North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NWAS) along with other health partners have launched a groundbreaking campaign to get as many secondary schools in the North West to sign up for a lesson in lifesaving on Restart a Heart Day 2016.
The ‘Schools’ Save Lives’ campaign aims to get every secondary school in the North West to sign up for the country’s biggest ever CPR training event on Restart a Heart Day which will take place on Tuesday 18 October 2016.
Restart a Heart Day is spearheaded by Resuscitation Council UK – a professional body that aims to improve cardiac arrest survival rates – which has set ambulance services a target of training over 100,000 people in the UK in basic life support skills in one day (Tuesday 18 October 2016).
Staff and volunteers from NWAS, St John Ambulance, British Red Cross and other partners will give up their own time to provide free lifesaving CPR and defibrillator training on the day, with the aim being to achieve the national target in the North West alone.
Currently in the UK, where there is no basic life support training on the national curriculum, less than one in ten people (8.6%) survive a cardiac arrest. In places such as Norway, where CPR is taught in schools, survival rates are 25%. If this was achieved in the UK, an additional 5,000 lives could be saved each year.
Complementary Resources Manager at NWAS, David McNally, said: “We are encouraging all secondary schools to sign up to our lesson in lifesaving on Restart a Heart Day because it is a sad fact that cardiac arrest kills people of all ages and from all walks of life.
“We are delighted to work with our partners to bring this event to the North West. Knowing what to do in this extreme emergency situation cannot be underestimated. CPR and defibrillation are so simple to learn and these skills can and do save lives.”
“The aim is to create a nation of lifesavers by training at least 100,000 people the valuable skills to save a life on Restart a Heart Day. We think we can achieve that figure in the North West alone, but we need help. There’s a role for everyone – whether that’s as a teacher signing their school up, as a parent or student encouraging your school to take part or as a supporter on social media using the hashtag #CPRhands.”
Anyone that wants to get involved and help create a region of young lifesavers in the North West is encouraged to visitwww.nwas.nhs.uk/schools.The deadline for applications is 31 July 2016.
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