THE MP for Clywd South believes that lifesaving skills should be taught in Welsh schools.

Simon Baynes, who won his seat in 2019, has co-signed a letter, along with Welsh Conservative colleagues in Westminster and also in the Welsh Senedd, calling on the Welsh Education Minister to make the teaching of CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and other lifesaving skills compulsory in the new Curriculum for Wales.

The Welsh Conservatives are also calling for lessons in the use and purpose of defibrillators to be included in the curriculum, making it compulsory for all secondary schools in Wales to teach essential lifesaving skills, as they are already in England and Scotland.

This follows a significant amount of campaigning on the issue by Suzy Davies MS in the Senedd.

Mr Baynes said: “Teaching CPR, defibrillator use and other lifesaving skills to Welsh schoolchildren has the potential to save countless lives and ensure that no other family has to suffer the preventable loss of a loved one to a cardiac arrest.

"I fully back this campaign and hope, along with my Welsh Conservative colleagues, that the Welsh Government delivers in passing on these vital skills to our children.”

The campaign is strongly supported by the friends and family of Janene Maguire, from Gwernymynydd, Mold, who died unexpectedly from a cardiac arrest in February 2000.

Janene’s daughter, Cara, also had a cardiac arrest herself in August 2020, during which, her friend Michael, a former soldier trained in first aid, was able to perform CPR until paramedics arrived – saving her life.