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PUPILS at a school in Walsall have received a life-saving heart defibrillator that can be used to restart a person's heart in an emergency.
Staff and students at Aldridge School accepted the medical device from Hartshorne Group, which raises funds to install defibrillators within the community.
Young people at the school have previously undergone training in CPR techniques (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) as part of a nationwide 'Restart A Heart' initiative.
Adele Biddle, Deputy Headteacher, said: "Our pupils are aware of the importance of heart defibrillators so it's reassuring to know that we have one on site. We'd like to thank the staff at Hartshorne for their kind donation."
The medical device will be stored at the school's cricket pavilion and can also be accessed in an emergency by members of the local community who use the sports facilities.
Hartshorne Group, which supplies and services Volvo commercial vehicles, has been raising funds since launching its own Healthy Heart Campaign in conjunction with West Midlands Ambulance Service.
Andy Gibbons, Depot Manager at Hartshorne in Walsall, said: "It was great to meet the teachers and students at Aldridge School. I'd like to thank everybody at the school for making us so welcome when we presented the defibrillator."
The company, which has nine depots in the Midlands, donates £1 towards defibrillators for every hour of physical exercise that staff record via an app. The campaign has so far raised funds to so far install 11 of the devices at schools and community hubs. Around 30,000 people a year in the UK suffer a cardiac arrest that occurs somewhere other than a hospital.
PHOTO: Deputy Headteacher Adele Biddle (left) and Head Girl Sophie Gillam, received the defibrillator from Andy Gibbons, Depot Manager at Hartshorne Group in Walsall.