SCOTLAND’S First Minister has praised the Evening Times’ push for mandatory CPR lessons in Glasgow’s schools.

Nicola Sturgeon described it as an, “important campaign,” which would result in more young people getting the skills needed to save more lives.

We are calling on Glasgow City Council to become the first local authority in the UK to make it compulsory for teenagers to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation before they leave school.

British Heart Foundation (BHF) Scotland has pledged to equip every secondary school with a £1300 training kit, which requires no teacher training.

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While many schools already have some form of training in place, the charity say making lessons part of the school curriculum would help ensure every single school leaver has some knowledge of CPR.

It is focussed on Glasgow, because the city has the highest rate of cardiac arrests in Scotland.

Talks took place yesterday between the council’s Convenor of Education, Chris Cunningham and David McColgan, British Heart Foundation to discuss, ‘the next steps.’

First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said “CPR saves lives and this important campaign is a great way to get more young people to learn these vital skills.

Read more: Baby dies after suffering cardiac arrest at Scottish safari park 

“Health and wellbeing is central to Curriculum for Excellence and CPR in schools has been promoted to local authorities as part of the our Children and Young People’s Improvement Collaborative.

“The latest statistics show around half of adults in Scotland are confident giving CPR and it is important that children also have the opportunity to learn these live saving skills.

“I look forward to this campaign resulting in more children and young people at school in Glasgow getting the skills and confidence they need to help save more lives.”

A new poll carried out by the British Heart Foundation suggests 65% of the Scots population are in favour of CPR training becoming part of the school curriculum.

The Scottish Government has set a target to equip 200,000 more people with CPR skills by 2020.