THE North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) is backing calls for CPR to be added to the national curriculum.

NWAS has for many years been working to promote the importance of the training, and now the Department for Education is making inroads into the change.

The DfE is seeking views on the proposed changes in relationships education, relationships and sex education, and health education, which include making CPR and first aid lessons for pupils compulsory.

Andrew Redgrave, regional community engagement manager for NWAS, said: “This is a real breakthrough for the work that we have been doing for many years and we fully support the calls to teach basic first aid, CPR and defibrillator use within schools.

“These simple skills really do save lives and the younger that people learn, the more effective their skills will be and more lives will be saved.”

“When a person has a cardiac arrest, their chance of survival reduces by 10 per cent for every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation which is why it is vital that people in the community are made aware of what needs to be done and can start life-saving treatment even before an ambulance is able to get there.”

The DFE consultation on the revised guidance can be completed online until November.

Visit consult.education.gov.uk