Comhairle Uladh Ulster Council G.A.A.

9th March 2021

Re: BHF CPR & Defibrillator Training Programme

A chairde,

Ulster GAA have been engaged with CPR and Defibrillator training programmes for over 10 years, with great success.

We have worked with a number of service providers in this important area of work, including the British Heart Foundation. Most recently we have been involved in the promotion and roll-out of “Call Push Rescue” training to our youth members with the assistance of BHF.

BHF are seeking the GAA community’s support in making it mandatory that such life-saving training is made compulsory in schools, so that survival rates for people in our community suffering from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are improved to the levels of other countries where this training is rolled-out in schools.

Please see a plea from Fearghal McKinney from BHF attached which outlines how the GAA can make their voice heard on this important issue. Please share this letter, and our social media posts on this matter with your members asking that they take a few short minutes to complete the online survey.

Yours in Sport,

Is mise, lea meas,

Brian Mac Fhíobhuí Rúnaí/Chief Executive Officer CLG Comhairle Uladh

Brian Mac Fhíobhuí, Rúnaí, Comhairle Uladh, 8-10 Sráid an Mhargaidh, Ard Mhacha 8-10 Market Street, Armagh, BT61 7BX Tel: 028 (048) 37521900 Email: [email protected] Web: www.ulster.gaa.ie

Dear friends

We're asking for your support to fill in a short consultation survey on making CPR training and defibrillator awareness compulsory in schools in Northern Ireland.

Cardiac arrest is the ultimate medical emergency, occurring when someone’s heart stops pumping blood around the body and they stop breathing normally. The GAA community has been a leader in raising awareness of heart health with many clubs providing training in CPR.

Colin McGrath MLA for South Down has introduced a Private Members’ Bill at the Northern Ireland Assembly to make CPR training and defibrillator awareness compulsory in post-primary schools. The bill is in the early stages with a consultation currently open to seek views on the proposed legislation.

We know that in countries where CPR is more widely taught, there is often a higher survival rate from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. Many more lives could be saved in Northern Ireland if every young person learnt life-saving CPR skills in school.

Now is the time we can make our voices heard and let the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive know that we all want CPR training to be compulsory in post-primary schools.

The consultation survey only takes a few minutes to complete and could make all the difference. The closing date is 16 March 2021.

The Survey can be completed here https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/colinmcgrathcpr.

We encourage you to share the survey with club members and your community to make your voice heard.

If you want to find out how else you can support this campaign, you can contact BHF Northern Ireland directly on [email protected].

Many thanks,

Fearghal McKinney, Head of BHF Northern Ireland.