Defibrillator Plans For Gateshead Schools

Gateshead schools are encouraging better first aid training - by installing defibrillators.

A Newcastle first-aider has teamed up with a Northumbria police officer to get the machines into schools across the region.

PC Emma Bowman has so far helped introduce the life-saving equipment in four schools in the area, teaming up with Ryan Murphy, who runs his own business, delivering first aid in schools.

PC Bowman, who works as part of Gateshead West Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: *"I initially started this as a personal goal to raise funds and awareness to get this life saving equipment in my daughter’s school.

"In the role that I do you come across a number of tragic cases and I thought this was something that I could do to make sure the school had everything they needed if a child, or adult for that matter, did go into cardiac arrest.

"When I started to raise the funds for that, I quickly realised that I could use my role as a neighbourhood police officer to raise awareness and actually be able to do this for many more schools in the area."*

Every single year as many as 270 children die in the UK after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest at school and every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces the person’s chances of survival by up to 10 per cent when they go into cardiac arrest.

Ryan tells us more; *“The importance of effective CPR and early defibrillation when someone suffers a cardiac arrest – the survival rates can go up to as much as 75% if there’s a defibrillator onsite.”

"He tells us there’s no need to be scared of using defibrillators in public places;

“Get 999 called and they’ll talk you through it, they’ll tell you if there’s a defibrillator about,

“If you’ve got one about, keep calm, listen to what the defibrillator says, what the paramedic says on the phone.”*

The campaign aims to install defibrillators in schools across the North East.