Held each year on or around 16^th October, the Restart a Heart initiative aims to improve the UK’s cardiac arrest survival rate by teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to use a defibrillator.

Withernsea High’s training event was led by Ann Bell, the school’s senior science technician and a coastal rescue officer with HM Coastguard. She was joined by Kelly Cook, Robert Brigham and John Ireland, all volunteers from His Majesty’s Coastguard, along with Sean Bell from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

Ann said: “I was extremely impressed with our Year 7 students. They were enthusiastic, fully engaged, and eager to learn throughout each session. I would encourage them to go home and share what they have learned with their parents and carers so that the knowledge can reach even further.

“Hopefully, the students will never need to use this skill, but we hope that if they were ever faced with a situation where it was needed, they would feel confident in knowing what steps to take to help someone.

“With 80 per cent of cardiac arrests occurring at home, and research showing that half of all adults in the UK do not know what to do when faced with CPR, these young people could actually know more than the adults around them. By sharing their skills, they have the potential to save even more lives.”

Supporting the students was the head of year, Zoie Wiseman, who added: “Ann and her team of volunteers did an amazing job. Learning CPR is such an important skill and our students approached the day with real maturity and enthusiasm. They worked well together and this event provided another valuable group activity in their first term at secondary school, helping to build confidence, strengthen friendships and develop essential life skills. I am extremely proud of them.”  

Preliminary data from the University of Warwick shows that Yorkshire Ambulance Service clinicians successfully restarted 762 hearts in 2024. Initiatives such as Restart a Heart are vital to increase this number, as immediate action from bystanders can make the difference between life and death.

Every year in the UK, more than 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest outside hospital, with 80 per cent of these incidents occurring at home. Fewer than one in ten survive. These figures highlight the urgent need for wider CPR knowledge, as anyone could find themselves needing to save the life of a friend, family member, or neighbour.

This year, more than 800 off-duty ambulance staff and community volunteers visited 180 secondary schools across Yorkshire, providing CPR training to over 40,000 students in just seven hours – marking the highest number of young people trained in a single day to date.

A new ten-minute training video, created in partnership with Leeds-based digital learning specialists Dynamic, supported the sessions and helped equip learners with the confidence to act in a real-life medical emergency.

Members of our wider school community are encouraged to learn CPR by watching the new training video at https://restartaheart.yas.nhs.uk/get-involved/cpr-training-resources/ or on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMiV_xoUcWA