Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) has issued a heartfelt appeal to secondary schools across the country to sign up for a record-breaking life-saving lesson.
Following on from the success of Restart a Heart Day 2014, which saw more than 11,000 schoolchildren trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in one day, the event will be repeated again this year.
And hopes are high that we will break last year’s record as we have set a target to teach CPR to more than 15,000 children on Friday 16 October 2015 in what will be the biggest event of its kind in the UK.
Organiser Jason Carlyon, who is a Clinical Development Manager for Yorkshire Ambulance Service, based in North Yorkshire, said: “Last year’s event exceeded all our expectations. It was incredibly inspirational to be a part of a day which was embraced by so many of Yorkshire’s schools. Their pupils were thrilled to learn such an important lesson which could save the life of a loved one or stranger in the future; I know of one youngster who has already used some of the skills learned last year.
“We are delighted to be able to repeat the event this year and would appeal to as many secondary schools as possible to open their doors and let our staff and volunteers pass on their life-saving skills to pupils.”
Over 30,000 people suffer cardiac arrests outside of hospital in the UK every year. If this happens in front of a bystander who starts CPR immediately before the arrival of the ambulance, the patient’s chances of survival double.
By linking with the Resuscitation Council’s European Restart a Heart Day and the British Heart Foundation, which will provide the equipment, we will provide thousands of schoolchildren with the skills they need to help save a life.
Any school interested in taking part can register their interest by emailing restartaheart@yas.nhs.uk – please provide the name of the school and a contact name and telephone number. The deadline for applications is Friday 10 April 2015. All secondary schools in Yorkshire will receive an official invitation from Yorkshire Ambulance Service to take part on Restart a Heart Day over the next few weeks.
