Schoolchildren from Milton Keynes are among 10,000 students who will be trained by South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust for Restart a Heart Day.
The lifesaving event – happening on Wednesday - will show youngsters how to carry out CPR and use a defibrillator.
SCAS staff, community first responders and co-responders are giving up their time to deliver the training sessions. The initiative forms part of a national effort to improve survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
Every year in the UK, there are nearly 30,000 people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital where treatment is attempted, yet less than one in 10 survive. Crucially, for every minute that passes without CPR or a shock from a defibrillator, a person’s chance of survival decreases by 10%.
“Restart a Heart Day is one of the most important dates in our calendar because it’s about giving thousands of young people the skills and the confidence to save a life,” said David Hamer, paramedic and operations manager at SCAS, “We are incredibly grateful to our community first responders, co-responders, and SCAS staff who are volunteering their time to visit schools across our region. Without their commitment, this huge training effort would not be possible.
“Together, we can give more people the chance of surviving a cardiac arrest,” he added.
The training sessions are designed to equip students with the knowledge that anyone can make the difference in an emergency – learning chest compressions and how to use a defibrillator could save a friend, family member or stranger’s life.
