RESTART a Heart day has been hailed a huge success ­— with more than 3,000 new lifesavers joining the fold.

The Island now has thousands more little lifesavers thanks to the IW NHS Trust Ambulance Training and Community Services' (ATCRS) CPR guardians.

Following the success of Restart a Heart day last year, when more than 1,000 people were trained in CPR, the team were issued a target of training a further 1,500 people this year ­— a milestone they smashed.

Over the past few months, Island schools have been visited by their ‘CPR guardian’ ­— a skilled IW NHS Trust ambulance tutor from the ATCRS team ­— to provide free training sessions to students.

Now, along with their IW NHS Trust colleagues ­— following the St Mary’s Hospital Restart a Heart Day event ­— the total number of people who have been taught lifesaving skills has exceeded the 3,000 mark.

Louise Walker, head of ATCRS, said: “This is an absolutely amazing achievement which everyone involved in should be very proud of.

"We may be a small Island, but we certainly now have a good percentage of our community who have a greater awareness regarding cardiac arrest and the importance of starting chest compressions.

"Restart a Heart 2019 was definitely a huge success for the Island, and will hopefully mean that even more lives can be saved."

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