A BARROW school community have been training to use the lifesaving equipment they raised cash for as one of the pupils has a rare heart condition.

Eight-year-old Casey Duff has CPVT (catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia), a life-threatening disorder of the heart's electrical system, which means the heart may stop in response to sudden excitement or stress.

Cambridge Primary School, in Barrow, raised money to get a defibrillator on the school site because Casey - or someone else - may need the equipment.

The automated external defibrillator cost £1,200. The school raised more than £500 through an enterprise day and sports day collection in the summer, then the cardiac charity, SADS UK (sudden arrhythmic death syndrome), put £700 towards the device for the school.

Teachers and Casey's family took part in a training session with the North West Ambulance Service, who also support SADS UK Big Shock campaign to make defibrillators available in all schools.

The defibrillator works to restore the heart rhythm if a person goes into cardiac arrest - the earlier a defibrillator is used, the better the chance of survival.

Casey has previously fainted and had seizures at home and at school as a result of the serious condition.

She is a patient at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, in Liverpool. The medics found an abnormality in her heart and she has medication which has helped stop the seizures.

Casey's mum and dad, Kerry and Dion Duff, took part in the training.

Mrs Duff said: "It's definitely peace of mind to know we've got the defibrillator, especially when I'm at work. It makes me feel a lot better.

"Thank you to Cambridge School and John from St John Ambulance, he came to school to show us how to use the defibrillator."

Karen Griffiths, a nursery teacher at the school who has been involved in the fundraising and the training, said: "Casey is doing very well, but it's nice to know the defibrillator is there.

"The defibrillator is also there if it is needed for other children, members of staff, or parents or grandparents."

Anne Jolly, founder of SADS UK said: "SADS UK is pleased that Cambridge Primary School will benefit from having a defibrillator on the premises to restart the heart if there is a cardiac arrest on the premises.

"In 2014 SADS UK Patron Dr Hilary Jones of Good Morning Britain presented Lifesaver Awards to staff at two senior schools who had saved the lives of teenage boys using their school defibrillator.

"Last year two more teenage boys were saved by teachers at their school. This demonstrates how important it is to have this lifesaving equipment on school premises. Using CPR alone provides a five per cent chance of survival but early use of the defibrillator as well increases the chance of survival to over 50 per cent.

"This is why SADS UK is so passionate about putting this lifesaving equipment in schools."

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