Mayor takes part in Restart a Heart Day
AS part of this year’s Restart a Heart Day, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham visited Harrop Fold High School in Little Hulton to participate in CPR training alongside pupils.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham learning CPR with pupils at Harrop Fold School.
AS part of this year’s Restart a Heart Day, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham visited Harrop Fold High School in Little Hulton to participate in CPR training alongside pupils.
The annual European Restart a Heart Day aims to create a nation of lifesavers and improve survival rates for out of hospital cardiac arrests. There are around 30,000 cardiac arrests every year in the UK and less than one in ten survive.
Andy brushed up on his CPR skills and led a class demonstration with the help of volunteers from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) and North West Ambulance Service (NWAS). With the use of CPR kits and mannequins, volunteers are working collaboratively to deliver CPR training to schools and colleges across the North West today.
Speaking to the Year 8 class at Harrop Fold, Andy highlighted the importance of learning the lifesaving skill, CPR. He said: “If there is one thing young people should learn during their time at school, it’s how to respond in an emergency situation and have the ability to perform CPR. That’s why I’m really pleased to be here at Harrop Fold supporting Restart a Heart Day.
“The more people that are trained in giving CPR and feel confident to step in and help someone suffering from a cardiac arrest the better – and it’s thanks to the likes of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and North West Ambulance Service that even more people will today become life-savers, including myself.”
A North West survey found that only 43 per cent of people would feel confident giving CPR to a stranger, and just 22 per cent were able to identify the two signs of a cardiac arrest - which are when someone is not breathing or not breathing normally, and that they have collapsed and are unresponsive.
The BHF warns that a lack of public knowledge of CPR could be costing lives as new research from the University of Warwick also finds that those who have been trained in CPR are three times more likely to perform it.
Restart a Heart Day is the largest ever CPR training event of its kind, and a number of services including; BHF, Resuscitation Council (UK), St John Ambulance, British Red Cross, GMFRS, NWAS and all the UK NHS ambulance services and fire and rescue services are working together to train more than 150,000 young people across the UK.
At the same time, schools and colleges across Europe are also taking part in their own training sessions as part of Restart a Heart Day – which is a fantastic opportunity for young people to learn the skill that which will ultimately save someone’s life.
Article Published: 14/12/2018 09:19 AM