Official Report 1407KB pdf
Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Cameron McGerr of Clydeview academy.
Presiding Officer and members of the Scottish Parliament, I have been invited here today by Stuart McMillan to share the goal of my pulse of life campaign. Pulse of life aims to make cardiopulmonary resuscitation training mandatory in all high schools across Scotland, first in secondary 1 during a physical education lesson, and then in S4 as a refresher course.
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests are common in the west of Scotland. In Scotland, roughly 9,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually, but the bystander CPR rate is only about 66 per cent. That is a major deal, because for every minute that CPR is not performed, the survival rate goes down by about 10 per cent.
This passion comes from my own personal experience. In 2022, I lost my mother to a heart attack, and in February this year, I lost my father to cardiac arrest while at home. That came as a shock. I moved from being someone with caring parents to being someone who had both parents stolen from me early.
I believe that if I had known CPR, I would have been able to save my dad. I would have been more confident while performing CPR, worrying less as his ribs broke under the force of my hands. I would not have had to wait for the 999 operator to instruct me in what to do. In my panic, I lost probably two and a half minutes, which instantly decreased his chance of survival by 25 per cent.
When my mother passed, I woke up to my dad screaming, unsure what to do. Being in S1 at the time, I wonder whether, if I had been given CPR training, I would have been able to step in and make a difference. However, I cannot live life wondering, “What if?”—I need to live to make a difference for other people who might encounter the same problem, and that is why I took action. I have been working closely with my school, Clydeview academy, which is the first school in Scotland to show recognition for world heart day. Inverclyde Council is supporting it by lighting up buildings and monuments red in awareness.
However, in order to make meaningful change, I believe that we in Scotland must go further. All PE teachers should be trained to be able to teach CPR, and training would take place in a single PE lesson to help cut down on missed class time. That will be a long process, but it could make an astronomical difference. [Applause.]
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