Yorkshire Ambulance Service will equip more than 40,000 students across the region with life-saving skills on Restart a Heart Day.
More than 800 off-duty ambulance staff and volunteers will visit 180 secondary schools – more than ever before – on Thursday 16 October to teach CPR and how to use a defibrillator with a new 10-minute training video.
Students at 23 schools in Beverley, Bridlington, Goole, Hull, Hornsea, Howden, Snaith, Pocklington, Selby and Withernsea will be among those learning the skill which can double the chances of someone surviving a cardiac arrest. People living in East Yorkshire are also being urged to watch the video to give them the confidence to step up and act in a medical emergency.
Every year in the UK, more than 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital – 80% of these incidents occur at home. Tragically, fewer than one in ten survive. These figures highlight the urgent need for wider CPR knowledge, as anyone could find themselves needing to save the life of a friend, family member, or neighbour.
However, recent St John Ambulance research showed that a third of the British public are afraid to give CPR to a woman because they are worried about touching breasts. The same survey found that 38% of Britons said they would feel uncomfortable using a defibrillator on a woman, as its pads need to be placed on bare skin in the chest area, requiring the removal of a woman’s bra.
For the first time on Restart a Heart Day, Yorkshire Ambulance Service will be using female manikins for the CPR training at one of the participating schools to help break down barriers and stigma associated with providing life-saving assistance to women.
Jason Carlyon, Community Engagement Manager with Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: “In a cardiac arrest, the technique for giving CPR is the same for both women and men. The issue is that women are less likely to receive bystander CPR in public than men are, which can lead to lower survival rates. By introducing anatomically accurate female manikins into our training sessions, we can highlight this disparity and normalise CPR on all body types to help overcome common hesitation.”
Yorkshire Ambulance Service invites everyone to learn CPR by watching the new video at https://restartaheart.yas.nhs.uk/get-involved/cpr-training-resources/ or via YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMiV_xoUcWA
