CPR (2)With the support of the British Heart Foundation ‘Nation of Lifesavers’ initiative, Harrow Way has undertaken the ambitious target of training every student and member of staff at the school in basic CPR life support by the end of the year.

More than 30,000 cardiac arrests happen out of hospital in the UK each year and less than one in ten of these people survive. As a result of this training there will be 1,000 more people in the Andover community that will know how to save a life by the end of 2016.

Steve Badby, Harrow Way’s Site Manager is leading the project and commenting on the task ahead, he said: “So far we have trained 200 students and members of staff which leaves 800 to go! It’s such an important skill to have which could quite literally save a life. The students are being taught how to perform CPR on an adult or child, put someone in the recovery position and use a public access defibrillator.”

Over the next five years, The British Heart Foundation are hoping to create a Nation of Lifesavers – a revolution in CPR training and defibrillator awareness that will help more people survive an out of hospital cardiac arrest. The goal is to ensure more lives are saved each year because bystanders are trained and ready to take action.

The British Heart Foundation are issuing free Call Push Rescue Training Kits to all eligible secondary schools, sixth forms and colleges. For more information and to get your free kit go to bhf.org.uk/heart-health/nation-of-lifesavers.