Dave Thompson MSP

AS a national campaign is launched for all school pupils to be taught simple skills that can help save lives in an emergency, Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP Dave Thompson has revealed details of lobbying for such a change he has already carried out for this approach in Highland schools.

In early July, Mr Thompson contacted Hugh Fraser, director of education at The Highland Council, to pass on a call from a constituent on Skye for all children to receive basic training in Emergency Life Support (ELS). Mr Thompson, vice-convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Heart Disease and Stoke Cross Party Group, was pleased to receive a prompt reply from Mr Fraser that ELS training was being offered to some pupils and that discussions were taking place about rolling out this initiative.

Mr Fraser noted that schools would be interested in offering ELS lessons as part of their Personal and Social Education curriculum but said a wider roll–out was difficult because of financial constraints and the limited availability of qualified trainers.

Mr Thompson said: “These basic skills are simple for anybody to learn and could make the difference between life and death if somebody near a casualty has learned what to do in the minutes between an incident and the arrival of trained paramedics.

“This call to give all a basic grounding in ELS would have a major impact and help make Scotland a safer place for all.

“I was pleased that my initial approach to Highland Council on this subject met with qualified approval from the director of education. I am glad that pupils in Portree have already benefitted from this training and pleased that Highland Council is looking at ways this can be made available to more, after all the beneficiaries are not just youngsters who have a new skill but everyone whom they may treat in their communities following a wide range of medical emergencies.

Next month pupils from Portree High School, who have already been given ELS training at school, will travel to Edinburgh to give a demonstration of what they have learned before a meeting of the parliament’s cross-party Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke Group.

Notes:

The national campaign is led by British Heart Foundation, Scotland, Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland and Lucky 2B Here, as part of a wider coalition, and calls for local authorities to ensure that all Scottish school pupils are taught emergency life support skills as part of the Curriculum for Excellence.

ELS training includes performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), dealing with an unconscious person, choking, serious bleeding and helping someone who may be having a heart attack.

Dave has also signed a parliamentary motion on the subject placed by Labour Central Scotland regional MSP Siobhan McMahon:

S4M-00227 Siobhan McMahon: Emergency Lifesaving and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training in Schools
That the Parliament is concerned that heart and circulatory disease remains Scotland‘s biggest killer; notes that, for every minute that passes after a cardiac arrest without defibrillation, the chances of survival are reduced by around 10%, but that immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can triple the chances of survival; supports the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Scotland‘s campaign for every child to receive emergency lifesaving (ELS) and CPR training in school as part of the Curriculum for Excellence; congratulates North Lanarkshire Council for providing ELS and CPR training through BHF‘s Heartstart training programme in every secondary school and welcomes its aspiration to achieve the same in every primary school, and urges other local authorities to follow this example by affiliating to Heartstart and ensuring that ELS and CPR training is available in schools throughout Scotland.