Today (16 October) is Europe’s first Restart a Heart Day, which is aimed at educating younger people about the benefits of learning and, if necessary, practicing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
To mark the day and encourage young people to learn the technique, the Resuscitation Council (UK) has sent every secondary school in the UK a DVD of LIFESAVER, an interactive film. The DVD is supported by a lesson plan to aid discussion of the film and the issues featured in it.
An estimated 60,000 people each year in the UK have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and less than ten per cent of those people will survive. However, the Council says that if a bystander is able to start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before medical help arrives, they could more than double a person’s chance of survival.
In addition to the DVD, LIFESAVER is available free online and as iOS and Android apps. For more information, visit:
www.life-saver.org.uk
