Medical students have trained over a hundred school pupils in life saving skills as part of Restart a Heart (RSAH), an annual initiative led by Resuscitation Council UK which aims to increase the number of people surviving out-of hospital cardiac arrests.

This year’s Lancaster Medical School Restart-a-Heart coordinators, Alex Liloglou and Shobana Satchithananthan, organised an engagement event with Lostock Hall Academy in Preston with the help of medical students Katy Tucker, Katie Williams, Jos Kendward and Avi Baskind plus Jill Sweetman, Clinical Skills Educator at the Medical School.

Together, they trained five classes in Basic Life Support (BLS) and the use of an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED).

Jill Sweetman, Clinical Skills Educator at Lancaster Medical School, said: “This training teaches people how to manage a situation where a person is unconscious and not breathing - so how to perform Cardio-Pulmonary-Resuscitation (CPR) and how to use an AED (Automated External Defibrillator). It increases confidence in these life-saving skills.

“In the UK there is a less than one in ten chance of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, but in places like Norway - where lifesaving skills are more widely taught - survival is four times that amount.”

The event was supported in the school by Nicola Tucker, Senior Assistant Vice Principal and Careers Leader, and all five classes were supervised by PE teacher Hollie Ellison.

Nicola Tucker said: “I just wanted to say a huge thank you for coming to Lostock Hall Academy and running the brilliant sessions with our students.

Director of Engagement for Lancaster Medical School Dr Luigi Sedda said: ”I am very proud of our medical students, for providing education and a career inspiration to the younger students. This experience also provided our medical students with valuable teaching experience, enhancing their communication and leadership skills.”