Secondary schools are being urged to sign up to take part in a lifesaving lesson on Restart a Heart Day.

More than 150,000 children and young people across the country learnt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the day last year.

And teachers are being urged to apply before the start of the school holidays for East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) staff and volunteers to teach lifesaving skills to students.

The annual event involves every ambulance service in the UK, the Resuscitation Council, the British Heart Foundation, British Red Cross and St John Ambulance.

Around 30,000 people go into cardiac arrests outside of hospital in the UK every year. The chances of surviving a cardiac arrest drop 10pc a minute if CPR is not started, and survival rates are currently less than one in 10 people in this country.

Simon Marshall, one of EEAST's community partnership training officers, said: 'We are looking forward to taking part in the country's biggest mass CPR training event. We want to visit as many schools as possible on the day and it only takes a minute to fill out the application form, which will help to equip the next generation of lifesavers.'

To sign up to Restart a Heart Day, this year to be held on October 16, click here.