EVERY high school pupil in Clacks will learn vital CPR skills, with Lornshill Academy being the first to get a training kit from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Scotland.

Councillor Graham Lindsay joined BHF Scotland staff members Marjory Wood and Lisa Robertson at Lornshill for some training with the kit, which includes mannequins and an instructional DVD.

Cllr Lindsay, who is the education spokesperson, said: "I was delighted to join pupils and staff from Lornshill and Alloa Academies to learn more about the CPR training that is being rolled out.

"In Clackmannanshire, we are committed to ensuring that our young people have a breadth of skills and experiences to prepare them for life, work and future learning, and gaining essential skills that could help save a life is a very welcome addition.

"We're grateful to the British Heart Foundation Scotland for their support in helping our academies to teach this important skill."

Lisa Robertson, BHF Scotland's fundraising manager in Clacks, added: "We were delighted to be at Lornshill Academy and see our CPR training kits being put to use to provide vital and life-saving CPR skills, and it's great that Clackmannanshire Council is leading the way in offering these important skills to its secondary pupils.

"BHF Scotland is encouraging local authorities across Scotland to commit to equipping all secondary school pupils with CPR training, and we are offering a free training kit to every eligible secondary school in Scotland to help Local Authorities achieve this.

"International evidence shows this works. After Denmark introduced CPR training for all secondary pupils, its cardiac arrest survival rate tripled, and now one in four people survive an out of hospital cardiac arrest there.

"Scotland currently lags behind, with only one person on average surviving for every 12 people who have an out of hospital cardiac arrest in our country.

"If we taught every secondary pupil CPR, we could greatly improve our own cardiac arrest survival rate."

The Scottish Government aims to equip 500,000 people with CPR skills by 2020.

It funded an educational video, released earlier this year, demonstrating how to perform CPR to the tune of "I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)" by the Proclaimers.

It can be viewed using the following link: youtube.com/watch?v=KAu9l2pWOis.