TRAGEDIES including the bin lorry crash and the Clutha helicopter disaster in Glasgow reinforced the need for more people to learn life-saving first aid skills, a city councillor has said.

Dr Martin Bartos has backed our campaign calling on Glasgow City Council to become the first local authority in the UK to make it mandatory for pupils to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before they leave school.

He said education was more than simply about equipping pupils with ‘as many qualifications as possible’ but about creating ‘rounded individuals’ who can contribute positively to society.

Three years ago, the green councillor for Partick West lodged a motion calling on the council to equip all pupils with the skill before the end of 2016.

The motion was approved unanimously but while some schools in Glasgow have introduced some form of training, after being sent £1300 kits by British Heart Foundation Scotland, it is not uniformly taught.

The Evening Times wants to change that by making the 30-minute session - which does not require any teacher training - part of the curriculum.

Six people died and 15 others were injured on December when a bin lorry collided with pedestrians in Glasgow City Centre. The driver, Harry Clarke was not prosecuted.

Councillor Bartos said: “We were reflecting on the amount of tragedy which the city had experienced, what with the Clutha disaster and the bin lorry crash.

“We were thinking about the fact that there is a wish to do something constructive and positive and people find themselves in situations where they are faced with life-changing and life-threatening events and that happens all the time and indeed with an ageing population there is an increasing prospect of that.

“Our education system isn’t just about producing people with the maximum number of the highest grade qualifications possible but actually producing rounded individuals = capable of engaging with society and contributing positively.

“There is certainly no parent out there who would not want their kid to be able to help make a difference.

“”I think any administration ought to get behind it. It’s a basic life skill education.

“It’s a nice, apt and very good campaign.”

The British Heart Foundation has pledged to equip every secondary school in Glasgow with the £1300 kits which include a DVD and mannequins. However, without enforcing the training, the charity has said the kids may be ‘lying in a gym cupboard.’

Dr Bartos, who is a former psychiatrist, would like to go further, with the training re-enforced from time to time to help ‘build confidence’ but added: “At least if you are given the base-line training, there is a good chance you will step in.

“It’s not just about kids. It’s also about sign-posting adults, who want to learn.

“Another part of it is what we have in the way of defibrillators. AED are so straight forward that actually we ought to be able to say that in any high density area, within a minute or two it’s straight forward to get one.

“You need to get the right support to the human body quickly (with CPR) as well as calling 999. One of the main things that the 999 call affords is to get a defib to the patient as soon as possible.

“If you can get the defib faster than the ambulance you are more likely to have a good outcome.”