Brighton students to run 24-hour CPR marathon

The students will perform the lifesaving procedure non-stop

Paramedic students are raising money for an air ambulance service by running a 24-hour CPR marathon on Valentine's Day.

Students and staff at the University of Brighton will perform the lifesaving procedure non-stop to raise funds for the Air Ambulance Charity Kent, Surrey, and Sussex (KSS).

They will also provide hands-on training for the wider community at the event which starts from 09:00 GMT on Friday at the university's Paramedic Science Suite.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation - or CPR - is used for restarting the heart or helping people breath again.

Emily Sammut, a paramedic student who came up with the idea, said: "A lot of us have had the opportunity to go out with the air ambulance so we knew it was what we wanted to raise money for."

She said she believed a lot of people didn't realise KSS was a charity, so "spreading the word and also spreading the word of early CPR and the signs someone is in cardiac arrest" was important.

"We're hoping for lots of student paramedics down here, they've all been really interested in it," she added. "We have opened it up to the wider university so all of the staff and students that are here."

The event was organised by students who hope to raise awareness of the importance of CPR as well as helping KSS.