Drive to provide Highland school pupils with life-saving skills looks set to expand
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EFFORTS to provide emergency life support to all Highland pupils were highlighted at a council meeting yesterday.
Councillors on the Care and Learning Committee, heard a presentation from Pam Gowie of Lucky2BHere.
Over recent years Highland schools and the Lucky2BHere charity have been involved in fundraising for defibrillators for their community. Pupils have also received emergency life saving training, with the goal that all children leaving secondary school have had the chance to learn the skills.
Twenty secondary schools and two special schools have a defibrillator on site, and the focus in now on ensuring a commitment from the remaining schools to progress this in their local community.
From August this year Lucky2BHere has been engaging with secondary schools to offer a programme of emergency life support training, with the intention to delivery initially to S3 pupils. An evaluation will take place at the end of its current term to consider its success and sustainability. The goal is to ensure that all young people in Highland leave secondary school having had the opportunity to undertake life-saving training.
Interim Head of Education, Nicky Grant, said: “Lucky2BHere has been delivering this training in some of our schools for some time, through PSE or as part of the Health and Wellbeing curriculum. This is directly linked to improving outcomes for children, young people and their families.
“In addition one secondary school is currently developing its S3 Leadership Course, which includes Lucky2BHere emergency support training, with a view to securing SCQF wider achievement accreditation supporting the raising attainment agenda for all young people.”
Portree High School led the way in 2011 after it introduced Lucky2Bhere training and fundraised for a defibrillator.
The Lucky2Bhere charity was set up in 2009 by Ross Cowie from Portree, following his survival from a sudden cardiac arrest.
