Deliveries of 20,000 defibrillators to all state schools in England without a device have begun today.
Last year, the government committed to supplying schools with the life-saving equipment.
It follows a campaign from the Oliver King Foundation and its founder Mark King, who lost his 12-year-old son to cardiac arrest while swimming at school in 2011.
The government wants the 20,000 defibrillators to be distributed to 18,000 state schools by the end of this academic year.
An internal cabinet is also being provided to secondary schools that are receiving two or more devices, so one can be placed at the school’s sports facility, where a cardiac arrest is more likely to happen.
The government will support schools in making them available to the community, with external heated defibrillator cabinets being provided to primary and special schools in areas with lower provision of the devices.
The Oliver King Foundation and other leading charities have created guidance for schools on how to use the new defibrillators. Video explanations will also be published.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan said: “None of this would have come about without the relentless and brave campaigning of Mark King and the Oliver King Foundation, and we are extremely grateful to him and other leading charities for the ongoing support they will doubtless provide schools from lesson plans to staff training.”
King said he has “no doubt that lives will now be saved so that families do not have to suffer the heartbreak of unnecessarily losing a child. This is for our Ollie.”
The scheme is costing £19 million. This includes a £14 million contract awarded to Lyreco UK in December for the supply of defibrillators.
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