London school children learn life-saving CPR skills at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Restart a Heart Day

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) has joined forces with organisations across the country today to train children and young people in vital lifesaving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills.

The event is part of Restart a Heart Day, a nationwide initiative to improve the survival rates of people that have a cardiac arrest outside of hospital. According to new research from the British Heart Foundation, around 10,000 people die every year because they do not receive lifesaving CPR before the emergency services arrive. This equates to one in eight of those patients who have a sudden cardiac arrest.

This year, the national day focuses on the importance of teaching CPR to children and young people. Around 150 school children from across the capital, as well as families and patients at GOSH attended a ‘Kids Save Lives’ session as part of Restart a Heart Day.

The event was part of the largest ever CPR training initiative of its kind with 100,000 young people learning CPR in schools and community groups across the country. It’s estimated that up to 5,000 more lives could be saved every year if CPR was taught more widely, so the aim is to encourage schools to embrace CPR training and to raise awareness to the public that everyone can be a life saver, including children.

Cade, an 11-year-old GOSH patient, and his family took part in the Kids Save Lives session this morning.

Earlier this year, Cade had a cardiac arrest and fell unconscious at his local swimming pool on a trip with his school. Although Cade’s heart stopped beating for 25 minutes, he quickly received life-saving CPR from a lifeguard on duty and resuscitation from the emergency services on the scene, meaning he recovered from his cardiac arrest without any significant brain damage.

Soon after Cade’s cardiac arrest, he was treated at GOSH and was diagnosed with an underlying heart condition and was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), which monitors the rhythm of his heart and will deliver an electric shock to restart his heart if an abnormal rhythm is detected.

Now, Cade doesn’t let anything stop him. His family are keen to stress the importance of learning CPR skills and have secured defibrillators at Cade’s school.

Cade's dad, Mark, said: "CPR saved our son’s life so we want to do whatever we can to raise awareness of such a vital skill. Cade is an inspiration to us all and remains so determined, positive and full of energy following his cardiac arrest and surgery.

“We think learning CPR should be on the national curriculum and that all children should be taught how to give the gift of life as it is so important. You never know when you might need this skill and you’re never too young to learn. Knowing basic CPR really can save someone’s life."

When Sam (pictured below) was sixteen, he had a cardiac arrest during a PE lesson at school. His teacher saved his life by performing CPR. Sam was taken to Southampton General Hospital where he was fitted with an IED.

Since then, Sam has been a member of the Resuscitation Council and tells his story at events across the country. He’s visited GOSH to share his experiences with the school children visiting the hospital and to help out in the CPR classes.

Sophie Skellett, Consultant Intensivist and Chair of the Resus Committee at GOSH said: “Restart a Heart Day is a crucial opportunity to teach basic CPR skills and help to save lives. 270 children die every year of sudden cardiac arrest at school so it is so important that young people are taught these skills to give them the confidence to step in and try to save a life. We want to raise awareness that children can deliver CPR effectively, once they know how.”

Restart a Heart Day is run by the Resuscitation Council and supported by the British Heart Foundation, St John Ambulance, British Red Cross, Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS), and the UK NHS ambulance services and fire and rescue services across the country.

For more information about CPR or the Restart a Heart event, please visit the Resus Council at resus.org.uk.