Brentwood’s cardiac charity has launched an exciting new initiative to provide CPR training for students.
The Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (Sads) UK charity based in Horndon Park, West Horndon, launched the Heartwize Essex initiative at the Anglia Ruskin University this October.
Heartwize Essex delivers a free CPR training programme to Year 10 pupils.
In a bid to increase survival rates from out of hospital cardiac arrest, Heartwize Essex aims to teach students essential life saving skills to ensure that every school leaver across Essex is trained to recognise and respond appropriately to a cardiac arrest emergency.
According to Sads UK, up to 60,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of hospitals in the UK every year, and the current survival rate in the UK is only 8per cent.
The charity hopes that the teaching of basic life support skills will have a dramatic effect on cardiac arrest survival rates.
Anne Jolly MBE, from Sads UK said: "Schools and students in Leicestershire have been benefitting from the free lifesaving skills the Heartwize programme teaches for four years and now SADS UK are pleased to be funding and running the Heartwize initiative in Essex.
"CPR being taught in schools will make pupils more confident is using this lifesaving skill if they should witness, or be called to help in a cardiac arrest emergency.
"They will also be shown how to use a defibrillator to restart the heart as many schools now have a defibrillator on their premises."
Heartwize is being brought to Essex through funding by Sads UK in association with the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre in Basildon University Hospital, the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance and Anglia Ruskin University.
Dr Thomas Keeble, consultant cardiologist at the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre and director of Heartwize Essex, added: "Heartwize Essex aims to co-ordinate and deliver high quality training to every school in Essex over a two year period, empowering and supporting the schools to deliver training for years to come."
Visit heartwize.org/essex.aspx to find out more.
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