Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex has been leading the sessions, as volunteers have been sharing their experiences both being saved and saving lives. Bartholomew Hall reports.
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00:00These sixth formers at Holcombe Grammar School in Chatham have been given the morning out
00:06of classes, but perhaps to learn one of their biggest lessons, how to save a life.
00:12It's all part of Restart a Heart Day, which aims to raise awareness about cardiac arrests
00:17and teach as many people as possible how to perform CPR and use a defibrillator.
00:22One man who knows all how important learning CPR can be is Graham Berwick.
00:27Back in 2018, Graham's heart stopped whilst playing golf in Sittingbourne.
00:32There was three people that did the CPR, one of them was my brother.
00:36I was very fortunate.
00:37I know that things would have been extremely different if I'd have been in a different
00:42place at a different time.
00:43You never know when you're going to need that skill because a cardiac arrest can happen
00:47any time to any one of us.
00:50Tragically, only one in ten people survive a cardiac arrest in the UK.
00:55It's hoped that with even the most basic training, that number can rise.
00:59So after their morning session, how prepared are these sixth formers for the possibility
01:03of having to restart someone's heart?
01:05I have to say from learning from the man himself over there, we've learned a lot and we should
01:11be able to perform it quite efficiently and effectively.
01:14I feel really confident doing it because obviously now that I've learned how to do it, I think
01:18it's kind of a skill that you won't really forget.
01:20The fact that I'm learning that I'm going to save a life, I feel like this is really
01:24good training worthwhile.
01:25On hand to help with the morning's training was KSS volunteer Chris, who saved his own
01:30dad's life by putting his training into practice.
01:33It's that skill for life as well.
01:34You never know when you might need it, you probably don't ever want to use it and the
01:39chances of you knowing that person rather than a bystander in the street is very, very
01:43high, especially with family members.
01:50This is the room where pupils across the region are being taught how to perform CPR
01:54today, but they don't even need to leave their classrooms to do it.
01:57It's being broadcasted directly to them and of course some of the younger pupils are being
02:01encouraged to bring in their own patients as well.
02:04If you turn it on.
02:06Essentially what we're asking children to do is bring a cuddly toy into school today
02:09and then we've brought ours and we're going to essentially for a 30 minute live stream
02:13session show them how to do CPR and they're going to practice it on their teddies.
02:17I think we know that given our reach is now so significant, this does and will save lives.
02:23So from primary aged pupils to urgent response paramedics, with today's efforts the charity
02:28is hoping to prove that anyone can become a lifesaver.
02:32Bartholomew Hall for KMTV in Medway.