PLANS to teach all children CPR have been welcomed by JUSTIN Tomlinson, MP for North Swindon.

The matter is a personal one for the MP whose his father died of a cardiac arrest when he was 12. Since elected he has campaigned on the issue, organising free CPR training sessions in Swindon working with the British Heart Foundation to introduce it to the curriculum.

Now, draft legislation has been introduced by education secretary Damian Hinds which will teach primary school children basic first aid and secondary school-aged children will learn life-saving skills such as CPR and using defibrillators.

Justin commented: “When my dad suffered a fatal cardiac arrest, I was age 12 and the only person with him. I fumbled around in shock and attempted to give CPR – going off what I had seen on the TV. I had never been taught how to administer CPR and had I been, my dad might still be here today.

"After his death, I vowed to make a difference. Since my election to Parliament in 2010, I have worked with the British Heart Foundation and pushed hard & consistently to campaign for life-saving skills to be taught in schools.

"This is a huge step forward in our fight to create a nation of life-savers. Whilst I wasn’t able to save my dad all those years ago, I am so pleased that the next generation of young people will be equipped with the skills that I didn’t learn.”

The British Heart Foundation says fewer than one in 10 people survive cardiac arrests suffered outside of hospital, with 10,000 people in the UK dying each year as a result.