We want everyone to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). It’s a lifesaving skill that everyone should have to help someone who has collapsed and is in cardiac arrest.
- When someone has a cardiac arrest, they collapse and become unresponsive. They either stop breathing entirely, or they might take gasping or infrequent breaths.
- If you see someone unconscious or breathing abnormally, ring 999 immediately. You will speak to an ambulance call handler who will help you confirm if the person is in cardiac arrest and, if they are, will guide you through doing CPR.
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) describes the process of compressing the chest to squeeze the heart and pump blood around the body.
- First you must place one hand on top of the other on the centre of the chest and push hard and fast on the chest to help pump blood around the person’s body. You should keep a steady rhythm of about 120 compressions every minute.
Over 68,000 people suffer cardiac arrests outside of hospital in the UK every year. If this happens in front of a bystander who starts CPR immediately before the arrival of the ambulance, the patient’s chances of survival doubles.“
Restart a Heart Day
Restart a Heart Day is on Friday 16th October 2026 and is an annual event. Each year, the collaborative effort of hundreds of clinicians, teachers and volunteers sees thousands of children and members of the public trained in how to perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). This is sometimes referred to as Basic Life Support (BLS) or performing chest compressions. Our record was in 2019 where we managed to train over 67,000 children across the region in one day!
Each Restart a Heart day we’re always keen to get as many schools on board as possible, so we can increase the number of young people who learn the importance of CPR. If you are interested, please email [email protected] for more information.
We would love to hear about your Restart a Heart Day, so please share your experiences with us on Facebook, X, Instagram, Tiktok and Threads via @officialWMAS.
Little Lifesavers
It’s not just grown ups and teenagers who should learn about CPR! Our Little Lifesavers campaign is aimed at younger children and is a fantastic educational activity to teach youngsters not only about the ambulance service but the important skills they need to help save a life.