Eighty St Hildas Collegiate School pupils were among 1000 year 12 and 13 pupils nationally to receive an hour's training from the Order of St John in the correct technique for cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) yesterday.
Assisted by St John tutors, pupils inflated training mannequins and learned how to assess a patient's condition, apply pressure to the sternum to stimulate blood circulation and restart respiration.
Communications and promotions co-ordinator Alena Lynch said the training day aimed to reduce the amount of time people waited for assistance following cardiac arrest.
"More than 1000 people go into cardiac arrest out of hospital in New Zealand every year," she said.
"Of these people, only 8% survive. By increasing access to defibrillator and CPR knowledge, we could improve the cardiac survival rate to more than 20%."
