MORE than two thirds of Scotland’s councils have now backed our campaign to ensure EVERY pupil in Scotland learns life-saving CPR.

A total of 23 local authorities have committed to rolling out training in the country’s secondary schools with the help of British Heart Foundation Scotland.

The charity is now working with the remaining seven; Argyle and Bute, Falkirk, Fife, Midlothian, Moray, North and South Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands and Shetland to achieve 100 per cent coverage.

READ MORE: Glasgow campaign to cut heart deaths with mandatory CPR in schools

South of the border, the UK government is taking a legislative approach and has said that all schools will be required to introduce mandatory training by 2020. The Scottish Government has ruled out a similar policy.

There are around 3,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Scotland each year. The survival rate is just one in 12 and for every minute without CPR, the chances of surviving drop by up to 10 per cent.

Glasgow City Council was the first to commit to training all pupils. There are more cardiac arrests in Glasgow than any other UK city.

READ MORE: Pupils from EVERY Scottish city will learn life-saving CPR after pressure campaign by Evening Times

In countries where CPR is more widely taught, survival rates as high as 1 in 4 have been reported. International evidence has shown that in countries such as Denmark, which legislated for all secondary pupils to learn CPR, survival rates for out of hospital cardiac arrests tripled.

The seven additional councils to back the campaign are Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Stirling, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, Scottish Borders and Angus.

They join Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, City of Edinburgh, Clackmannanshire, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Eilean Siar, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian.

Daniel Jones, Policy and Public Affairs Officer, BHF Scotland, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and we applaud those councils who have made this commitment to ensure their pupils are trained in CPR.

“Less than one in 12 people in Scotland survive an out of hospital cardiac arrest, partly because too few bystanders have the expertise or confidence to perform CPR.

READ MORE: SNP back motion calling for mandatory CPR training in schools

“We want this to change and this is a significant step that promises to improve the odds of survival for anyone who has a cardiac arrest in the future.

“We are now engaged with the remaining local authorities in Scotland and look forward to achieving 100 per cent coverage this year.”