World Record-holder in Resuscitation | Anne-Marie Willems

12/10/2023 Employees

Applications specialist of WEINMANN Emergency

Inquisitive, committed, decisive – Anne-Marie is not only an application specialist at WEINMANN Emergency; she is also an expert in resuscitation. She has acquired a great deal of experience in emergency and intensive medicine in the course of her career, and has made use of her knowledge and skills at an international level to save lives and to improve medical care. One highlight of her career is a world record in resuscitation training for children.

Teaching resuscitation to children

As an intensive care nurse for 15 years, a resuscitation specialist for 5 years, and finally an applications specialist for WEINMANN Emergency at its Singapore site, Anne-Marie is incredibly knowledgeable on the subject of resuscitation. She achieved a remarkable milestone in resuscitation when she and a friend decided to teach live-saving measures to children. “The idea of teaching this important knowledge in schools gave rise to the question of how to implement it,” she says. “So we started off in 30 schools, training a total of 3,000 children and teaching them the principles of resuscitation.” The two had bigger plans, however, keen to draw even more attention to this important issue.

The impressive world record in 2013

In 2013, they set an impressive world record. On a single day, they organized a one-hour training session in a football stadium using AEDs (automated external defibrillators) and resuscitation dummies. With the support of sponsors, they were able to run the biggest AED training session in the world, involving 2,200 children, 500 resuscitation dummies, and 500 AED training devices. “We divided the children into groups of 5 and then taught them how to resuscitate in an emergency. Children learn quickly, retain a lot, and pass it on. We saw this as an opportunity to increase the proportion of resuscitation attempts performed by non-medics,” says Anne-Marie.

Anne-Marie at a trade fair with Ortus to present CCSVAnne-Marie at a trade fair with Ortus to present CCSV

Passion for CCSV

When WEINMANN Emergency launched the new CCSV (Chest Compression Synchronized Ventilation) ventilation mode in 2019, Anne-Marie was a fan from the start. “A ventilation mode for resuscitation is exactly what was missing. I wanted to get to grips quickly with the principles of CCSV and how it works,” she says. With her extensive experience in CCSV, she has now been providing increased support for product management at head office for two years. She also manages advice and training for users of CCSV all over the world, enabling people to make the best possible use of CCSV. Her confidence in the benefits of CCSV is based not only on scientific fact, but also on the fact that the technology makes the process significantly easier: “CCSV allows users to keep their hands free to concentrate on other important tasks. This issue is of particular importance in a prehospital setting, as only a limited number of assistants are available in this scenario.”

The important of continuous training

Anne-Marie has found in training, particularly, that users find CCSV very straightforward. All you have to do is press a button, activate CPR mode, and then use the CCSV function. At the same time, Anne-Marie emphasizes that there are lots of ways to fine-tune the use of CCSV - and continuous training plays a key role in this: “The use of CCSV demands a completely different process to that of conventional resuscitation. In particular ventilation, which is not required as often, requires specific training. So the key thing is to practice regularly and to familiarize oneself with the finer points of this life-saving technology—this is the only way to act effectively in emergency situations and to save lives.”

More about CCSV

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