Heart resuscitation equipment has been installed at a school in London’s East End where staff are being trained in life-saving techniques.

A London Ambulance Service paramedic arrived at Bethnal Green’s Morpeth Secondary for a day’s inset training at Half Term teaching staff (pictured) on how to use the equipment should they ever need it.

The SADS UK charity hopes to install defibrillators in all schools and public buildings to be used to restore a person’s cardiac rhythm if they have a heart attack.

“Morpeth School will benefit from having a defibrillator on the premises if someone has a cardiac arrest,” the charity’s founder Anne Jolly said.

“Last year we presented Lifesaver awards to staff at two schools where they had saved the lives of teenage boys using their defibrillators.

“This shows how important it is to have this equipment on school premises.

Using Cardiac resuscitation alone has a five per cent chance of survival, she points out—but “using a defibrillator as well increases the chance to 50pc”.

A defibrillator is easy to use by the layperson, with its recorded voice prompts to whoever is operating it.

The charity’s Big Shock campaign to make defibrillators available in all schools, supported by the London Ambulance Service and by actress Dame Helen Mirren, shows that “the earlier the equipment is used, the better the chances of survival” from cardiac arrest.