All Perth and Kinross secondary schools to offer CPR training.

HEALTH: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation access for all secondary pupils in Perth and Kinross

Every high school in Perth and Kinross will offer CPR training by next year. Six of the 10 secondaries in the region already provide opportunities to learn the life-saving skill and this will be rolled out to the rest in the next academic year. Perth and Kinross Council confirmed the Heartstart and Call, Push, Rescue programmes, which provide training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, will soon be made available to all secondary school pupils in the area. This comes after Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alexander Stewart launched a campaign in partnership with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to make CPR training compulsory as part of the school curriculum. A council spokesman confirmed training will be made available to all schools but it is for the head teacher to decide how to implement it. Currently only two councils in Scotland – Glasgow City and Aberdeen City – have committed to mandatory CPR training, which will start after the summer holiday. Conservative MSP Mr Stewart is

“An increasing number of Perth and Kinross Council schools are undertaking CPR training as part of the health and wellbeing curriculum.

COUNCIL SPOKESMAN

putting pressure on Perth and Kinross Council to follow suit. “BHF has made a very compelling case and the benefits of teaching CPR in the schools of Perth and Kinross are clear,” he said. “I am pleased to be working closely with the foundation to take the steps that have been identified. “We understand that BHF’s representatives have spoken with Perth and Kinross Council but regrettably still haven’t received any form of commitment from councillors. We need to ensure that a commitment is in place for when the schools go back after the summer holidays and I will be keen to maintain pressure on the council until we receive some kind of reply.” In Scotland, only one in 20 people who have a cardiac arrest outside hospital survive but in Denmark, where schools have compulsory CPR training, the statistic is one in four. A council spokesman said: “An increasing number of Perth and Kinross Council schools are undertaking CPR training as part of the health and wellbeing curriculum. “Currently, six out of 10 secondary schools in Perth and Kinross are signed up for Heartstart training or being part of the Call, Push, Rescue programme. “These programmes will be rolled out to the remaining four secondary schools during the 2018-19 term and it is up to individual schools and headteachers to decide the best way to engage with CPR training programmes, which will be based on the needs and requirements of their community.”

Picture: Dougie Nicolson. Jack Robertson and Brodie Ramsay from Dunning Primary School, with Graeme Ramage from Basics (British Association of Immediate Care Scotland).