A POTENTIALLY life-saving defibrillator has been placed at a Kidderminster secondary school to tackle sudden cardiac arrests.

Students and staff at King Charles I School have joined the Hearts and Goals campaign, fronted by footballer Fabrice Muamba, by charity Arrhythmia Alliance.

The school raised funds to place the automated external defibrillator in reception after hearing about Fabrice Muamba’s campaign, who collapsed with a sudden cardiac arrest during a televised football match in March last year.

The defibrillator can be accessed by anyone in the community by phoning the ambulance service in the event of an emergency, which will provide a code so it can be accessed.

Headteacher Tim Gulliver said: “I was so shocked to learn that sudden cardiac arrest strikes so many young people every week in the UK.

“It is wonderful we now have this life-saving piece of equipment on site and will soon place another at the lower school.”

Caroline Holmes, of Arrhythmia Alliance, worked with the school to help place the lifesaving equipment.

She said: “The on-pitch collapse of Fabrice Muamba has shown that sudden cardiac arrest can strike even the fit, young and healthy.

“The device placed at King Charles I School will not only benefit the school but the wider community who will also have access to the device in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest.”

Arrhythmia Alliance hopes to place 500 public access defibrillators, used to shock the heart back into rhythm in the event of sudden cardiac arrest, as part of their Hearts and Goals campaign.