CSIA is latest to have students trained to do CPR and use defibrillators
More and more secondary schools in Cornwall are being fitted with life-saving defibrillators thanks to the tireless work of a charity from Penzance, Cornwall. One of the latest schools to have public access defibrillators installed on its premises was Camborne Science & International Academy.
As well as the defibrillators students at the schools also received training from the Ronnie Richards Memorial Charity on how to use them and how to perform CPR if needed. RRMC co-founder and secretary Paul Williams: “The RRMC continues its drive to equip county secondary school students with essential lifesaving CPR and AED skills in line with its closely linked public access defibrillator (PAD) infrastructure network securing an increasing over 200 in west Cornwall alone.
“Sudden cardiac arrest claims one life every five minutes in the UK and of those 80% happen at home. Only by training children with essential lifesaving skills, where they may be the only one present with a loved one, can the best chance of survival be achieved. “Telling a child afterward that simple to learn first aid could have saved a precious family member leaves traumatic heartache for life.”
Over the past 10 years the charity has worked with 8,000 secondary school children in Cornwall. The RRMC latest certificated CPR and AED students training at Camborne Science & International Academy in Camborne, Cornwall, saw 1,220 students trained in a day. Year 10 student Leona has aspirations to become a paramedic. She said: “The day has further heightened my desire to follow a career in emergency medicine. Knowing how to use an AED and perform CPR now is reassuring and an essential life skill.”
Susan Gellatly, assistant principal for character education said: “The Ronnie Richards Memorial Charity provides an essential service to the community. Our students have thrived working with such an altruistic charity. “They have built their resilience in first responder techniques, which we sincerely hope they never have the need to use, but are confident that should the situation arise our students will be able to support someone in their time of need.”
