Northern Ireland

BHF NI urges new education minister to make CPR training compulsory in post-primary schools

Denmark's Christian Eriksen collapsed during the match on Saturday. Picture by Stuart Franklin/Pool via AP
Denmark's Christian Eriksen collapsed during the match on Saturday. Picture by Stuart Franklin/Pool via AP Denmark's Christian Eriksen collapsed during the match on Saturday. Picture by Stuart Franklin/Pool via AP

A LEADING heart charity has called for compulsory teaching of CPR in post-primary schools following the collapse of Danish footballer Christian Eriksen.

Fearghal McKinney from the British Heart Foundation (BHF NI) said he had written to the new Education Minister Michelle McIlveen urging her to back the charity's campaign for CPR training and defibrillator awareness to be made a compulsory part of schooling in Northern Ireland.

It comes after Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed in Denmark's Euro 2020 opening clash against Finland on Saturday.

Around 1,400 people suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the north every year, but fewer than one in ten people survive. Most of these occur at home.

The heart charity said if children were given vital CPR training in school the cardiac arrest survival rate could be increased.

Mr McKinney said: "This shocking event is a stark reminder that a cardiac arrest can strike anyone, anywhere and anytime, without warning.

"Knowing simple CPR skills and how to use a defibrillator is vital to ensure that every person who suffers a cardiac arrest has the best chance of survival.

"When a cardiac arrest strikes, every minute without CPR and defibrillation by up to 10 per cent.

"That is why I have written to the new minister Michelle McIlveen once again urging action on this issue.

"Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where CPR training is not mandatory in post-primary schools. It is time we made that change."