KIDS SAVE LIVES IN GREECE: 
NATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM OF SCHOOLCHILDREN 
IN CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION:
PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Anastasios Stefanakis, Barbara Fyntanidou, Anastasios Samaras, Theodoros Kalyvas, Ioulia Magkou, Charalampos Kapnopoulos, Athanasia Gkouverou, Konstantinos Tziatzias, Georgia Antonopoulou, Georgia Christopoulou, Evangelia Sigala, Panagiotis Tassis, Christina Vlachopoulou, Dialechti Bosta, Vasilios Grosomanidis, Konstantinos Fortounis

Hellenic Society of Emergency Prehospital Care
Humanitarian Organization ‘Kids Save Lives’

Introduction
Greece is included among European countries with the lower bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and survival rates after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Training schoolchildren in CPR is considered worldwide as the best way to improve survival after OHCA. ERC ‘KIDS SAVE LIVES’ Statement has been already endorsed by World Health Organization.

Purpose
Presentation of the preliminary results of KIDS SAVE LIVES implementation in Greece.

Material & Methods
Hellenic Society of Emergency Prehospital Care and the Humanitarian Organization ‘Kids Save Lives’ launched a Program aiming to train schoolchildren and teachers in CPR. This would be the first step in incorporating CPR training of schoolchildren in the compulsory Education Program of Greece.  
After the official approval of the Greek Ministry of Education and an initial period of pilot implementation in the Region of Central Macedonia (22.02-13.06.2017), the aforementioned Organizations have been implementing KIDS SAVE LIVES in primary and secondary schools from the beginning of 2018 at a nationwide level.
The Program includes 4hrs of theoretical and practical training and is carried out by more than 300 certified ERC Instructors on a voluntary basis. After the initial mass training event at each of the participating schools, certified BLS Courses are organized, aiming to the creation of a national network of young BLS Providers.

Results
During the first year of implementation, 13.477 schoolchildren ≥10yrs of age have been trained in 158 schools (Primary/Secondary: 87/71 [6949/6528], Public/Private: 151/7 [12471/1006]). The program received strong positive feedback both by students and teachers. More than 60 certified BLS and several BLS-I Courses have been organized for them, and, today, Greece is the country with the younger certified BLS Instructors in Europe.

Conclusion
KIDS SAVE LIVES could be the decisive factor in incorporating CPR training of schoolchildren into the mandatory education curriculum in all European countries, contributing to the future improvement of survival after OHCA.

References
Training school children in cardiopulmonary resuscitation worldwide. Resuscitation 2015; 94: A5-A7
School children education in resuscitation for Europe and the world. Eur J Anaesthesiol 2017; 34: 792-796

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