Cork students awarded for completing CPR programme

Students from four Cork schools have been given potentially lifesaving training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and have each been recognised for their efforts.

St Patrick’s College in Montenotte, St Colman’s Community College in Midleton, Coláiste Muire in Cobh, and St Colman’s Community College in Youghal, are beginning the new academic year with an Irish Heart Foundation award for training their students in CPR.

Students from each of the schools received CPR 4 Schools Awards, which recognise schools, teachers, and students for remarkable efforts in CPR promotion and training. The schools were among 36 across Ireland which were presented with 57 awards as part of the national heart and stroke charity’s CPR 4 Schools programme.

Since the scheme’s inception, 2,630 teachers in 649 post-primary schools have taken part, learning how to deliver CPR and giving the programme a reach of over 350,000 post-primary school students.

The charity aims to build a generation of life savers by training students to perform CPR and respond in a cardiac emergency, use an AED (defibrillator), and respond when someone is choking.

The resuscitation manager with the Irish Heart Foundation, Brigid Sinnott, said the charity is delighted to recognise schools, teachers, and students.

“Every year we are blown away by the work and commitment of schools to teach the lifesaving skill of CPR,” she said.

“We know that schools are busy places, but they are making CPR a priority for their students and the impact is seen in their homes and communities.

“The Irish Heart Foundation’s mission is to build a nation of lifesavers through CPR training, and schools are vital in helping us to achieve that.

“These schools are, quite literally, the beating heart of the programme and are recognised for empowering students with a vital lifesaving skill,” Ms Sinnott said.

A person’s chance of survival is doubled when CPR is started immediately.

A person who learns CPR once in their life is 10 times more likely to respond to an emergency than someone who has never received training.

Designed to be embedded within the school curriculum, the Irish Heart Foundation’s CPR 4 Schools programme is easy to run and takes just one hour to train a class.

Post-primary school teachers interested in signing up for the free programme should visit irishheart.ie/cpr4schools