Lifesaving CPR skills shared at campus Restart A Heart Day events
Over 200 people learned the vital life-saving skills of CPR – cardiopulmonary resuscitation – as part of a series of events held on campus to mark World Restart A Heart Day.
Students and staff were shown the right techniques to help anyone who has suffered a cardiac arrest by some of the University’s current Nursing and Paramedic Science students and members of the Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS).
The day also featured a talk by Visiting Professor Andrew Lockey, President of the Resuscitation Council and a Consultant in Emergency Medicine.
With fewer than one in 10 people surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, making the skills needed to help potentially save a life more widely known about is more important than ever.
Former Huddersfield Town striker and club ambassador Andy Booth also joined in the sessions that saw the School of Human and Health Sciences students demonstrate the best ways of performing CPR on a realistic mannequins in the new event space on campus.
Working in partnership with YAS and the Resuscitation Council, regular CPR training will be delivered by healthcare students across communities as part of the University’s Health and Wellbeing Academy.
Joanne Garside, the University’s Professor of Nursing, said, “As a registered nurse previously working in cardiology, it was a pleasure to be part of the Restart A Heart Day and see the University’s nursing and paramedic students share their knowledge and skills with other students and staff. Working with the YAS, the Health and Wellbeing Academy will continue to deliver this training and help raise awareness about the importance of everyone knowing how to perform CPR.”
Andy Booth, Jason Carlyon from YAS and Andrew Lockey with students who took part in Restart a Heart Day activities on campusJason Carlyon, Community Engagement Officer with YAS, added, “Our message is simple - please be confident to intervene when someone has a cardiac arrest. Everyone in every community has a role to play in the chain of survival, whether it’s by calling 999, doing chest compressions, locating a defibrillator, retrieving it or by telling others what to do.
“We come across many patients who are alive today because someone started CPR when they collapsed - everyone deserves that chance.”
