Whitworth High School becomes a safer place

Whitworth Community High School receiving HeartStart and defib training from North West Ambulance Service

Teachers at Whitworth High School received basic life-saving training from the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) this week.

Nine teachers from the High School in the Whitworth area of Rochdale attended the training session on Wednesday 18 July, where they were instructed on how to use defibrillators and perform resuscitation techniques.

Members of the Rossendale Community First Responder (CFR) team performed the training; these included Brian Pickup (Rossendale CFR Team Leader), and CFRs Steve Butterworth, Ken Sutcliffe and John Bracewell.

NWAS’ Community Resuscitation Team (CRT) work with The British Heart Foundation (BHF), The Chain of Survival Partnership, and CFRs to deliver the HeartStart course and life-saving Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) techniques to members of the public.

In the local community around Whitworth, defibrillators have been installed at the Red Lion, Sportsman and Hall Fold Methodist Church, as well as Sunny Bank Community Centre and Lobden Golf Club.

Steven Butterworth, NWAS Community First Responder, said: “Our aim is to get everybody in the community to be aware of what to do in emergencies and that Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are available for use in locations throughout the village.”

“There is only a six per cent chance of surviving a cardiac arrest outside of hospital, but this increases to 74% if a defibrillator and trained staff are nearby.”

The installation of public-access defibrillators around local communities is part of the Chain of Survival initiative aimed at creating a network of locations where a defibrillator can be easily accessed. The HeartStart initiative ties in with this by providing members of the public with the knowledge and confidence to recognise cardiac arrest and use CPR and AEDs to treat patients.