Lochaber school gains Heartstart status.

Ardnamurchan High School in Lochaber has gained Heartstart status with the potential to save lives.

Heartstart is a British Heart Foundation (BHF) initiative which aims to teach people what to do in a life-threatening emergency. Each Heartstart schools programme operates independently and is designed to help children and young people learn ELS – simple skills that can save lives.

Head Teacher, Christopher Millar-Craig said: “Eilidh MacKenzie from the Scottish Ambulance Service who is a CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) Trainer came in to train Mr Patterson, Mrs MacArthur and two willing sixth year pupils, Keri Gillespie and Michelle Wright.

“We are now working with second year pupils during Personal and Social Education lessons to teach them vital lifesaving skills. With our five new resuscitation dummies and British Heart Foundation resources we will be teaching Recovery Position, CPR, dealing with bleeding, choking, heart attack and a range of other medical emergencies.”

Mr Millar-Craig added: “Living in a remote area it is important that we are able to provide Emergency Life Support (ELS) while waiting on the emergency services. Children are sometimes present at accidents and emergencies and, if they’re properly trained, are often as capable of applying ELS as adults.”

Emergency Life Support is the set of actions needed to help keep someone alive until professional help arrives. It includes performing CPR chest compressions and rescue breathing.