A leading University of Wolverhampton academic took part in a national campaign to train children to perform Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
Dr Petula Nurse, the University’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) ambassador and Principal Lecturer in Biomedical Science in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, took part in the recent National Restart a Heart campaign – training over 200 children at a local Wolverhampton school.
Restart a Heart Day is a Europe-wide initiative created by the European Resuscitation Council aimed at raising cardiac arrest awareness. The campaign was launched in 2013 to teach members of the public how to help restart the heart of someone who has suffered a cardiac arrest.
Petula said: "The Restart a Heart awareness day was a great opportunity to show how every child can be a life saver and create awareness of how CPR can save a person's life."
Petula teamed up with other volunteers - David Glover (St John Ambulance), Dr Theresa Thomas (University of Birmingham) and Barry Parkes (Alstom Transport) - and trained 209 children in CPR at St Andrews CE Primary School, Wolverhampton. Pupils were trained in groups and practised on mannequins.
Over 16,000 primary school children across Birmingham and the Black Country were trained on the day.
Chloe Armishaw, Teacher at St Andrews, said: “I am really grateful for all the effort you put into the day and I feel the children really learnt something from the day.”
All children participating received a Restart a Heart certificate of involvement from the British Heart Foundation.
