º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ trains more than 1,000 people in CPR on Valentine’s Day

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Students’ Union and the British Heart Foundation came together on the most heart-themed day of the year to train more than 1,000 people in CPR.

Pictured is Andy Stephens teaching CPR at the Heart 2 Heart event.

A total of 1,479 staff, students and members of the community learnt the life-saving skill in the space of 12 hours, in a bid to increase the cardiac arrest survival rate of 1 in 18 in the East Midlands.

The Valentine’s Day event, titled Heart 2 Heart, hosted multiple ‘pods’ across the º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ campus in which people learnt CPR or refreshed their existing skills and knowledge.

The event was supported by more than 450 volunteers, which comprised members of the East Midlands Ambulance Service, certified first-aiders and University staff and students.

Andy Stephens, the University’s Director of Finance, volunteers as a Community First Responder with East Midlands Ambulance Service and led numerous training sessions as part of Heart 2 Heart.

He commented: “All day I met staff and students eager to learn new skills, refresh knowledge and build confidence.

“I’m proud of them and so grateful to East Midlands Ambulance Service, the British Heart Foundation, my fellow Community First Responders and the volunteers from across the University, who made the day such a success.  

“Hopefully one day, perhaps tomorrow or years in the future, what we achieved at Heart 2 Heart will save lives.”

Designated sessions that focused on performing the life-saving technique on infants also took place during the day and ‘campus couples’ had the chance to train together in the morning.

Student Alannah Joy and her partner Stuart Ashton decided to spend their Valentine’s Day learning CPR.

When asked why, Alannah said: “I’ve never been medically trained before and I felt it was important to learn CPR as it’s such a basic skill and one day it could save someone’s life.

“Also º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ has a community feel; we treat each other as family. So having those skills and being able to look after each other is important to us as a University.”

Carrie Seaton, the British Heart Foundation Fundraising Manager for Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, said: “We really need to tackle the cardiac arrest survival rate in the East Midlands and events like Heart 2 Heart really help as it gives more people the opportunity to learn this life-saving skill.

“We hope that by training so many staff and students, there will be more people out in the community that are able to step in and save someone’s life.”

For more information on CPR or to learn the skill, visit the British Heart Foundation’s ‘How to Save a Life’ page

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 18/28

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º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world to study sports-related subjects in the 2017 QS World University Rankings and top in the country for its student experience in the 2016 THE Student Experience Survey.

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 6th in the Guardian University League Table 2018, 7th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018 and 10th in The UK Complete University Guide 2018. It was also named Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017.

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.

 

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