North Swindon MP has welcomed news that all state schools now have lifesaving equipment – successfully fulfilling the Government’s pledge to do so by the end of the school year.
In July 2022, the Government committed to delivering these devices before the end of the 2022/23 academic year to ensure that all state funded schools in England had access to a defibrillator. Following the Government’s £19 million roll out, over 20,000 defibrillators have successfully been delivered to almost 18,000 schools since January, meaning that all eligible primary, special and alternative provision schools who did not already have a defibrillator have received one.
The rollout followed the campaign by Mark King of the Oliver King Foundation, who tragically lost his son Oliver after he suffered sudden cardiac arrest at school during a swimming lesson when he was 12-years old.
Research shows that when a defibrillator is accessed within 3-5 minutes of a cardiac event, this can increase the chance of survival to hospital discharge from 9% to 50%. The announcement today means that, teachers and pupils across the country can be reassured they will have access to this life saving equipment.
As a teenager Justin lost his father following a cardiac arrest, and as an MP he has sought to raise awareness of important lifesaving skills – particularly in schools. Working with the British Heart Foundation, Justin led a successful campaign to ensure that CPR was included in the national curriculum, meaning that all school children will now have the vital knowledge to potentially save lives.
Justin Tomlinson said: “Administering CPR and accessing a defibrillator as soon as possible drastically improves the chances of survival following a cardiac arrest, so I am delighted that all schools now have access to a defibrillator. A huge to Mark and the Oliver King Foundation for securing this important outcome. In addition to learning the practical skills to respond to a cardiac arrest, we need to give people the confidence to use them – after all, when someone’s heart stops, there is nothing you can do to make it worse.”
