Crossley Heath School learn how to 'Restart a Heart'

School governors Lynnette Cassidy, Neil Davidson and Francis Millington, with Helen Byrnes from Yorkshire Ambulance Service, for the Re-start a Heart event, at Crossley Heath School, Halifax

Now in its sixth year, the 'Restart a Heart' campaign is an annual initiative led by the Resuscitation Council in partnership with the British Heart Foundation, British Red Cross, St John Ambulance, and Yorkshire Ambulance Service. It aims to improve the low numbers of people surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrests by giving members of the public life saving CPR training.

Pupils learned how to check breathing, perform mouth-to-mouth rescue breaths and use a defibrillator - skills that could be the difference between life and death in a crisis.

Duncan Beattie, a registered paramedic and health care assistant for the school said: " 'Restart a Heart Day' is a really important cause and it is fantastic to see our students engage so well with it.

"It has given them the opportunity to learn what to do in a crisis and hopefully they'll be able to use these skills to help the wider community."

The Yorkshire Ambulance Service is set to visit 165 secondary schools around Yorkshire to provide around 40,000 pupils with the vital training.

Over the last five years on 'Restart a Heart Day', Yorkshire Ambulance Service has provided free CPR training to more than 105,000 young people at 72% of the secondary schools across Yorkshire. It is estimated that if more people had CPR training, 100 lives could be saved each week in the UK.

Jason Carlyon, Yorkshire Ambulance Service lead for Restart a Heart day said: "Cardiac arrests can happen anywhere and by performing CPR in the critical minutes before the ambulance arrives gives the patient the best possible chance of survival.

"Even if people haven’t had training, our 999 ambulance call-takers can provide instructions over the phone. The worst thing anyone can do is nothing. Once you've identified someone's collapsed, first of all ring 999 and get the ambulance on the way and then start CPR.

"For adults, this is by putting the heel of your hand in the centre of the chest and you need to push hard and fast. The rate is 100-120 and a lot of people use 'Staying Alive' or 'Baby Shark'".

For more information on the campaign, visit the British Heart Foundation website.