CPR

CPR, like the other sessions that the students attended, offered them a skill they will be able to use for the rest of their lives. This session was run by three teachers: Mrs Plews, Miss Bonnar and Miss Cartwright, who were placed in charge of teaching the students the important skill of CPR. The students both enjoyed this session, with the use of CPR dummies, and found it informative/useful staging a situation in real life where they would need this particular skill. Two students (Owen and Morgan) who had just finished this session said, “It can happen in real life and you can save them.”

The students learnt how to perform CPR with the help of the CPR dummy Ken, and the five stages of CPR, using the steps:

1. Check breathing

2. Call 999

3. Interlock your hands

4. Start chest compressions

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the ambulance arrives

The students, with their friends surrounding them, were practising these skills, allowing them to correct and help them in an environment where any mistakes could be corrected with no consequences or danger to anyone. One of the members of staff involved, Miss Cartwright, when describing CPR, said, “It is lifesaving and it’s good to learn it surrounded by their friends, allowing it to stick in better. It’s summer soon when there are no teachers around and it’s good for society to learn.”

After students had finished the part of the lesson where they were learning, they were told to solidify their newfound knowledge by making a video that could be used to inform other students of the steps to CPR. These videos were visually aided with the use of dummies to show exactly what to do, and where on the body to do it. One student, Jake, who was narrating the video for the group, described the exact way in which you should link your hands. He said, “You put your dominant hand underneath in a locking position, lift the chin to check for breathing and start chest compression, use the palm/ball of your hand putting your weight behind it.”

Statistics show that this is an important skill to learn at this early stage of life, as 89% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases die due to the lack of CPR knowledge. This is a skill which 12 year olds managed to learn in under an hour, so there is truly no reason for this large percentage of deaths. A shocking 15 students go into cardiac arrest every week while at school. After 4 minutes, the lack of oxygen to the brain causes permanent brain damage and 8-10 minutes without oxygen can cause death. CPR can triple the chances of someone surviving cardiac arrest which is a significant difference compared to such an easy thing to do.