Have A Go At Saving A Life With The BHF's New Online Game

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release

Tuesday 16 August 2005

Fancy yourself as a high-flying heart surgeon? Why not try the British Heart Foundation's brilliant new game where the scalpel * and the life of your patient * is in your hands.

Aimed at getting under-11s interested in the way their body works and helping them to understand more about heart disease, Heart Operation has been designed for the BHF's popular children's website, cbhf.net.

The game gives the player a choice of four operations to perfect their skills: a heart transplant, heart bypass, hole in the heart, or valve replacement. Accompanied by painfully realistic sound effects, you have just seven minutes to successfully perform your operation, selecting the correct instruments at each stage.

Debbie Allen, the BHF's children's resources manager, said: "Your heart is the busiest and most important part of your body and learning how to keep it healthy can be fun. The Heart Operation game is a great example of how we can really bring home the realities of heart disease to children in a vivid, interactive way."

cbhf has been live for just over a year, and attracts more than 9,000 visits a month. The most popular section is 'Fun Stuff', suggesting the interactive approach is the way to engage children in learning about their hearts.

Visit www.cbhf.net/fun_stuff.asp to check out the Heart Operation game for yourself.

ENDS

For more information please contact Ian Fannon at the BHF press office on 020 7487 9416 or email fannoni@bhf.org.uk. Or, contact the press office on 020 7487 7172 or 07764 290381 (out of hours).

Notes to editors

- The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is leading the battle against heart and circulatory disease - the UK's biggest killer. The Charity is a major funder and authority in cardiovascular research. It plays an important role in funding education, both of the public and of health professionals, and in providing life-saving cardiac equipment and support for rehabilitation and care.

- For more information on the BHF, visit bhf.org.uk.