Yorkshire Ambulance Service gears up for world`s biggest life-saving lesson
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) will visit 91 secondary schools across the county on Friday 16 October - European Restart a Heart Day - to teach cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to more than 20,000 children in what will be the biggest event of its kind ever seen in the world.
Hundreds of ambulance staff, community first responders, St John Ambulance volunteers as well as staff from Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, Hull Royal Infirmary, York District Hospital, Barnsley Hospital, Doncaster Royal Infirmary and the Sheffield-based Embrace paediatric transport service are giving up their time to pass on their life-saving skills to others.
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.
YAS held its first mass CPR training event last year as part of the European Resuscitation Council’s Restart a Heart Day when more than 11,000 schoolchildren at 50 schools received CPR training. This year is set to be much bigger. By again linking in with the Resuscitation Council and British Heart Foundation (BHF), which provides the equipment as part of its Nation of Lifesavers campaign, we will equip thousands of children with the skills they need to save a life.
There is still time if you would like to volunteer to share your life-saving skills with local schoolchildren. You don’t have to be a clinical member of staff to help on the day - just a basic understanding of CPR is required as the training will be focused around a step-by-step interactive DVD provided by the British Heart Foundation; our role is to provide additional support and guidance to the children. All volunteers must have a valid disclosure and barring service certificate.
