PUPILS at Clydebank High School will be trained in life-saving Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) before they leave school.

West Dunbartonshire Council fully supports the Scottish Government’s commitment to train an additional 500,000 people in Scotland in CPR skills by 2020.

Therefore, pupils from West Dunbartonshire’s secondary schools will be required to learn first aid including CPR in the hope that they could save a life.

Councillor Karen Conaghan, convener of educational services, said: “This is a great initiative, which will not only provide pupils with a lifelong skill, but it will hopefully give them the confidence to save a life.

“If all senior pupils are trained with lifesaving CPR skills that’s thousands more people that can provide help to someone in West Dunbartonshire.

“I fully support this initiative and welcome the introduction of the training which will empower and equip our pupils to take action and offer help in an emergency situation.”

Schools will work with the British Heart Foundation to introduce their Call Push Rescue programme.

Daniel Jones, policy and public affairs officer at BHF Scotland, said: “We are delighted that West Dunbartonshire Council is taking forward this lifesaving measure to train all secondary pupils in CPR, which sees it become the 13th Local Authority in Scotland to commit to delivering this vital training.”

In Scotland, for every 12 people who have an out of hospital cardiac arrest, only one will survive. Training all school pupils in CPR has the potential to triple survival rates.

Last month the Post reported that primary pupil Cayden Mcauley saved his mum after she collapsed, and is now backing a campaign to teach all kids first aid skills.