Students learn life-saving skills

Aylsham High School students have learned vital skills which could save lives in future.

All of the school’s pupils took part in Restart a Heart first-aid training as part of their Personal, Social, Health and Economic curriculum.

Restart a Heart is a nationwide campaign led by Resuscitation Council UK, which aims to increase the number of people surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrests by teaching members of the public how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

VITAL SKILLS: Aylsham High School students practice CPR.

Over the course of a fortnight, students in every year group took part in CPR skills workshops and watched videos about recognising the signs of a cardiac arrest and how to use a defibrillator. They also carried out CPR on resuscitation mannequins.

Dr Susie Poock, Head of PSHE, said: “At Aylsham High School we are committed to ensuring that all our students are well prepared to handle emergencies with confidence. We are delighted with the excellent level of engagement the students have shown with the Restart a Heart sessions and would like to thank all the PE staff, who have taught these vital life-saving skills, pastoral staff and Emma Elliott, our first-aid trainer, for their help to ensure the success of this initiative.”

Students at the school will receive this important first-aid training on an annual basis, to reinforce their knowledge and abilities, so that by the they leave they will have a thorough understanding of what to do, and the confidence to act, if ever faced with this time-critical emergency.