In the last three months, SAMU 061 has trained 193 teachers from 103 schools.
A total of 12,732 students have received training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation as part of the “Cardiopulmonary resuscitation at school” programme, a project led by the Balearic Islands Emergency Medical Care Service (SAMU 061). From 14th February to 11th May, seventeen courses were given to teachers, in which 193 teachers in 103 schools received this training.

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This project consisted of providing training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation – provided by SAMU 061 – to the teachers at the schools, who then, under the constant supervision of SAMU 061 professionals, trained their students in the 1st and 2nd years of ESO, so that they can pass on the knowledge acquired to family and friends. The balance of participation is as follows, broken down by island:

Mallorca: 83 centres, 152 teachers and 10,497 students.
Menorca: 8 schools, 15 teachers and 954 students.
Ibiza: 14 centres, 26 teachers and 1,281 students.

Basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is the set of manoeuvres that make it possible to identify if a person suffers a cardiorespiratory arrest and replace the respiratory and circulatory functions without any specific equipment until the victim can be attended to by specialised emergency services.

Early CPR training at school has proven to be a measure that has a great impact, as in the medium term it allows a large part of society to have knowledge of how to act in the event of cardiorespiratory arrest. Numerous studies conclude that from the age of thirteen a person has sufficient physical capacity to perform resuscitation manoeuvres and at the same time the necessary cognitive maturity to understand the importance of acting in a cardiac arrest situation.

The ultimate goal of this training is to reduce the morbidity and mortality caused by cardiac arrest through early identification, early warning and early manoeuvres.

The teaching of basic CPR at school at compulsory educational levels represents an opportunity to educate a large number of citizens. In Europe, it is included in the school curriculum in Norway, Denmark, France and the United Kingdom, among others. This education has been particularly important in the Nordic and Japanese models and has resulted in increased survival in sudden death episodes.

Sudden death has a rate of 55 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year, that is, one case every twelve hours, and represents the leading cause of sudden death. In the Balearic Islands, only in 18% of cases of sudden death did the witnesses who detected the situation initiate resuscitation manoeuvres until the emergency services arrived.

This project has been made possible thanks to the collaboration with the Spanish Council for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, the General Council for Physical and Sports Education and Fundación MAPFRE.