Rising talent from the world of Rugby League helped kick off a life-saving Yorkshire Ambulance Service campaign to improve cardiac arrest survival rates across the region last week.
Fifty players taking part in England’s Diploma in Sporting Excellence programme learnt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to mark the launch of the Restart a Heart campaign last Wednesday (14 February).
The players, aged between 16 and 18, have the potential to reach the highest level of the women’s game, and were taught the life-saving skill by staff and volunteers from Yorkshire Ambulance Service in Huddersfield.
From this date, all secondary schools across Yorkshire will be able to sign up to provide their students with free life-saving training on Restart a Heart Day (Wednesday 16 October 2024) when it is expected that over 35,000 young people will learn CPR in one day.
Jason Carlyon, Community Engagement Manager, said: “We are delighted to teach CPR to these talented young players who are expected to progress through the ranks within the women’s Rugby League at the highest level and would like to thank them for supporting the launch of our Restart a Heart campaign.
“A cardiac arrest can happen to anyone of any age at any time and unfortunately we have seen numerous high-profile incidents involving sports professionals so it’s crucial that we engage with groups like this to teach vital skills and also raise awareness about the importance of CPR to a wider audience.”
The Rugby Football League’s DiSE Manager, Conor Meese, added: “We were thrilled to welcome Yorkshire Ambulance Service to deliver this life-saving training to our DiSE students. No one will ever be able to predict when or where a cardiac arrest will happen, so I think it’s important we’re proactive and educate our players on what to do should it ever occur.
“The staff and students found the session really informative and eye opening, so I would encourage as many secondary schools as possible to get involved.”
