CPR training for more than 10,000 school children

South Central Ambulance Service staff will lead the training at almost 100 schools

More than 10,000 school children are set to be trained how to carry out life-saving CPR using a defibrillator.

South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) staff will lead the training at almost 100 schools across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire.

The project coincides with Restart a Heart Day on Wednesday, which is a national campaign to to improve survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.

Every year in the UK, nearly 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital where CPR is attempted - yet less than one in ten survive.

A statement from SCAS said: "Crucially, for every minute that passes without CPR or a shock from a defibrillator, a person's chance of survival decreases by 10%."

David Hamer, paramedic and operations manager at SCAS, said the training was about "giving thousands of young people the skills and the confidence to save a life".

He thanked community first responders, co-responders, and SCAS staff who had volunteered to lead the sessions, saying: "Without their commitment, this huge training effort would not be possible."

"Together, we can give more people the chance of surviving a cardiac arrest," he added.

The training sessions have been designed to "equip students with the knowledge that anyone can make the difference in an emergency", the ambulance service said.

This includes teaching them how to carry out chest compressions and how to use a defibrillator.

Restart a Heart Day is part of an initiative led by the Resuscitation Council, British Heart Foundation, St John Ambulance, British Red Cross and ambulance services across the UK.