THE Wee County has been lauded for its ongoing commitment to adopting life-saving CPR training.

Cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a vital first aid skill that can save the life of a person who goes unconscious and stops breathing during a cardiac arrest emergency and Clackmannanshire Council was first to take onboard training recommendations from a charity.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF), supported by regional Conservative MSP Alexander Stewart, has been encouraging local authorities to take part in its Nation of Lifesavers Campaign.

The politician praised the local authority for leading the way in adopting training back in September 2018 as it was last month confirmed all 32 Scottish councils have signed up.

Within Clacks, Lornshill Academy was the first school to adopt BHF Scotland’s Call Push Rescue training kit to teach CPR to pupils as part of the campaign.

MSP Stewart said: “I am delighted that all 32 local authorities in Scotland – including Clackmannanshire Council, which was one of the first to adopt the CPR training in September 2018 – have now committed to the training of all secondary pupils in CPR following the start of the Nation of Lifesavers campaign.

“There are around 3,500 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Scotland each year and for every minute without CPR, the chances of surviving drop by up to ten per cent; however, in countries where CPR is more widely taught, survival rates as high as one in four have been reported.”

Indeed, at the heart of the campaign is the hope average chances of surviving a cardiac arrest will improve in the future and that today’s young people will play a big part in that.

Mr Stewart commended and congratulated those in education who are making it all happen.

He added: “International evidence has shown that in countries like Denmark, which legislated for all secondary pupils to learn CPR and adopted best practice in emergency response, survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests have tripled in recent years.”

The BHF campaign has now been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2019 Scottish Charity Awards, the politician, who is co-convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Heart Disease and Stroke, encouraging people to head to bit.ly/2WxB98L and vote for the initiative.

Votes close this Friday, May 17, at 5pm.