HEARTSTART Knutsford will be helping more people than ever before thanks to a new partnership with Wythenshawe Hospital.

The University Hospital of South Manchester Cardiac (UHSM) Rehabilitation Centre is to utilise Knutsford’s Heartstart course as part of its exercise and education programmes.

Adrian Rees, Chairman of Knutsford Community First Responder Trust and Knutsford Community Heartstart Coordinator, said: "This is a fantastic accolade for Knutsford Community Heartstart; to be recognised as a Training Centre of Excellence by one of the country’s main Cardiac Rehab Centres.

“Over the coming months we will be training an increasing number of Wythenshawe Hospital's cardiac patients being referred to us by the Cardiac Rehab Team.”

The first Wythenshawe patient to benefit from this link was Andrew King, who attended the June Heartstart course with his partner. He said: “The course was very informative, essential and valuable, run by a great team of people passionate with helping people learn the right skills to help save lives. It is 2.5 hours of your time well worth spending at Knutsford Heartstart.”

Knutsford Heartstart was formed in 2002 and is run and administered by Knutsford Community First Responders Trust.

Adrian added: "Since we launched our dedicated web-site for Knutsford Heartstart in February this year we have seen a significant increase in Knutsford residents booking places on our life saving course.

“Such is the demand that we have decided to hold our course every month from now on, rather than our previous arrangement of every second month. Bookings for 2014 are already twice that of last year; more and more Knutsford residents are realising how critically important it is to learn the basic life saving skills taught on our Heartstart course.”

Book your place now

THE free 2.5 hour Heartstart course covers a variety of emergency situations, including dealing with a heart attack, dealing with an unconscious patient (recovery position), resuscitation, choking, life-threatening bleeds and how to use a defibrillator.

Below are the confirmed course dates for 2014/2015: 2014: September 4, October 2, November 6, December 4 2015: January 1, February 5, March 5, April 2, May 7, June 4, July 2, August 6, September 3, October 1, November 5, December 3.

All courses start at 7pm at Knutsford Methodist Church.

To reserve a place, book online at heartstartknutsford.co.uk or call 01565 631324.