South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) will be teaching CPR to school students on October 16.

SWASFT is working alongside the British Heart Foundation (BHF) on 'Restart a Heart' day, an annual national campaign to teach members of the public CPR.

Volunteers will be going to a number of schools across the South West to deliver CPR training to students.

Evidence shows that the benefits of performing CPR far outweigh the risks, as survival rates are almost zero if people collapse and get no support until the emergency services arrive.

There are over 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in the UK, and less than one in 10 survive.

According to the BHF, if survival rates matched those reported in Norway, where CPR is taught more widely, as many as 5,000 lives could be saved.

SWASFT, Resuscitation Council (UK), St John Ambulance, British Red Cross, British Heart Foundation (BHS) and all the UK NHS ambulance services along with Fire & Rescue services are working together to train more than 150,000 young people across the UK in the largest ever CPR training event of its kind.

Neil Le Chevalier, Director of Operational Services, said: “SWASFT volunteers will be visiting schools and businesses across the South West to teach life-saving CPR skills. South Western Ambulance Service believes it is vital to educate members of the public, including school children, on early recognition of a cardiac arrest and how to commence CPR in order to give the patient the best chance of survival.”