Deansrath Community College receives top recognition from the Irish Heart Foundation
By William O' Connor
The Irish Heart Foundation presented Deansrath Community College with a Special Recognition Award for training all its pupils in the life-saving skills of CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
Deansrath Community College, Clondalkin, is only the second school in Dublin to receive the award, which recognises schools for remarkable efforts in CPR promotion and training.
Students Tara Morris and Josh Cleary
The award was presented as part of the Irish Heart Foundation’s CPR 4 Schools programme, which is supported by Bank of Ireland.
The charity is creating a generation of life-savers by training secondary school students around the country to perform CPR and use an AED in cardiac emergencies and respond when someone is choking.
So far, 965 teachers in 363 secondary schools around the country have taken part in the CPR 4 Schools programme and learned how to deliver CPR, giving the programme a reach of over 180,000 secondary school students.
Of the 181 secondary schools in Dublin, so far 80 schools (44 per cent) have taken part in the CPR 4 Schools programme, protecting lives at school and in the local community.
Laura Hickey, Children and Young People Programme Manager at the Irish Heart Foundation, said: “We awarded Deansrath Community College its special recognition award in recognition of its dedication in providing life-saving CPR training to each of its pupils and staff. Everyday 13 people in Ireland die from a cardiac arrest and schools are an ideal setting to educate young people in CPR and reduce the incidences of death from cardiac arrest.
“CPR is a life-saving skill that everyone can learn, and this programme is available to every secondary school in Ireland, equipping young people with the skills and confidence to perform CPR. Deansrath Community College has done tremendous work in creating awareness and taking the fear out of life-saving.”
John Doyle, Physical Education Teacher, Deansrath Community College, said: “We have really enjoyed delivering the CPR 4 Schools programme here at Deansrath Community College.
“The programme fits in well with the school curriculum and all of us, teachers and students, are proud to now know how to perform CPR in a cardiac emergency. We hope that having trained everyone in the school in CPR, we will be able to make a difference in our local community here in Clondalkin and we’re delighted to receive this award from the Irish Heart Foundation in recognition of our efforts.”
