I backed calls for every Local Authority in Scotland to commit to training all secondary school pupils in lifesaving CPR.
Fife Council is currently one of only three councils yet to commit to the British Heart Foundation Scotland’s campaign to provide training in this vital skill to every secondary pupil.
29 out of Scotland’s 32 local authorities have committed to the BHF Scotland calls.
As such, I wrote to the Chief Executive of Fife Council to ask why Fife has not signed up to the commitment.
I am told Fife has previously indicated that it will encourage CPR training, but the British Heart Foundation are looking for a commitment to ensure that every pupil leaves school having been trained in CPR.
They say, this offers the best chance of improving both Fife and Scotland’s Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest survival rate, and follows international evidence from Denmark and Norway, where all secondary pupils are trained in CPR and they have vastly improved their own survival rates. In Denmark, their own survival rate has even tripled after they introduced legislation to train every secondary pupil in this lifesaving skill.
I have met with representatives of the British Heart Foundation and they say they would love to bring Fife Council on board, and for them to join the 29 other councils in Scotland who have pledged to train all secondary pupils in lifesaving CPR.
It is the case that fewer than 1 in 10 people who have an out of hospital cardiac arrest in the UK currently survive. By having CPR taught in schools we could help create a nation of life savers and change that.
I have urged the Chief Executive of Fife Council to find a way for both Fife Council and BHF Scotland to meet in order to sort this issue out and find a way to commit to the calls for CPR training as a matter of priority.
