The borough has been prioritised because it has one of the lowest survival rates for cardiac arrest patients in London

Children attending the lifesaving course organised by London Ambulance Service — Children attending a lifesaving course organised by London Ambulance Service

Schoolchildren in Enfield will be among the first to be taught how to save a life as part of a campaign to create a generation of lifesavers.

Data collated by London Ambulance Service identified Enfield as a high priority for its ‘London Lifesavers’ schools programme, which aims to teach life-saving skills to year eight children.

The LAS London Lifesavers team is offering free training to schools as part of a drive to make the capital one of the best cities in the world at responding to cardiac arrest.

Children will be taught how to recognise when someone is in cardiac arrest and how to give chest compressions to keep blood pumping round the body. They will also be shown how to use a defibrillator, which can restart a heart.

Sam Palfreyman-Jones, head of first responders, said: “We have looked at the number of cardiac arrest patients and survival rates to decide where we can have the most impact with our training.

“We know that by teaching life-saving skills in schools in Enfield and giving children the confidence to use a defibrillator, more lives will be saved in those crucial minutes before an ambulance arrives.

“Most cardiac arrests happen in the home, so we hope to show children that by learning these simple skills, they could save someone they love.”

This is exactly what teenager Oliva Smith did when her step-father Geraldo Folie collapsed at home earlier this year. Oliva – who learnt life-saving skills in the Scouts – recognised the signs of cardiac arrest and immediately dialed 999 and started giving him chest compressions.

Olivia said: “I learned what to do at Scouts five or six years ago but the training kicked in as soon as I saw Geraldo gasping for breath.

“I’m so happy seeing Geraldo at home now – I see him laugh and tell myself ‘wow, look what I did!’.

“When I learned these skills I never expected to use them but these incidents happen and thanks to London Lifesavers, more lives will be saved.”

According to the LAS data, Enfield has one of the lowest survival rates for cardiac arrest patients in London.

Copenhagen, Seattle and Victoria have proved survival rates improve with increased bystander intervention, where members of the public can recognise the condition quickly, call an ambulance and start chest compressions and defibrillation quickly.

Early chest compressions and the use of a defibrillator can more than double someone’s chances of survival.

The London Lifesavers team also train members of the public at pop-up events across London and offer training to businesses, charities and community organisations.

As part of the campaign, LAS is also seeking to get thousands more defibrillators into communities where they can start saving lives.

LAS chief executive Daniel Elkeles said: “The good news is that we have some of the best response ambulance response times in the country for cardiac arrest patients but every second counts before an ambulance arrives and evidence shows that increasing bystander intervention is the key.

“We need to build a social movement that makes life-saving training one of the things that lots of people know how to do and we need to get defibrillators in every corner of the city – and that work begins in Enfield.”

Schools can find opportunities to train year eight cohorts via the LAS London Lifesavers schools webpage. Residents can also learn how to save a life and join the London Lifesavers Campaign.

London Lifesavers is funded through a grant provided by NHS Charities Together.

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