Five-hundred children at Walton Priory Middle School learned some lifesaving first aid skills last week – and helped West Midlands Ambulance Service reach a major milestone for their HeartStart project.
The service has now trained 10,000 people in Staffordshire in the HeartStart course, including students at Alleyne’s High School last October. More on that HERE.
On 1st April 2012 the service embarked on the five-year HeartStart project, aiming to train basic life support skills to 60,000 people in Staffordshire. Over the last 15 months an average of 21 people every day have been trained in how to save a life. The project has gone from strength to strength and many more courses are already planned for the forthcoming months.
The free two-hour British Heart Foundation courses are suitable for anyone from the age of 10 and cover various lifesaving and first aid techniques including CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), the management of severe bleeding, loss of consciousness, choking and chest pain.
Matt Heward, community response manager, said: “Holding these free courses, which are open to all, has provided the public with the skills, confidence and a better understanding of what they should do in such an emergency which really could help to save lives. We’re absolutely thrilled by the response for these courses.
“One of the main aims of the project was to concentrate on getting schools involved and providing children with lifesaving skills at a young age. The children at Walton Priory Middle School and other schools around the county have been excellent, engaging fully with all the activities and learning these vital skills in a familiar environment.”
Click HERE for more information and to book on to a free course, email heartstartstaffordshire@wmas.nhs.uk or call 01785 237341 – leave a message and someone will get back to you.
