Yorkshire Ambulance Service has created a quirky 1940s-style film to encourage people to learn the vital skills of CPR.

The York Blue Light Theatre Company has produced a 90-second film which will be entered into a competition. it is hoped the film will educate the public on how to act during a cardiac arrest.

The competition is run by the Citizen CPR Foundation (CCPRF) and the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation (SCAF). It will feature as part of the Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit in San Diego in America in November.

Done in the style of a 1940s British public information broadcast, the video comes across as tongue and cheek. However, it has a clear message of being assertive when witnessing a cardiac arrest, as well as instructions on how to carry out CPR correctly.


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The video, funded by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service Charity, was released to mark Restart a Heart Day on Monday, October 16 and can be viewed here.

Jason Carlyon, Community Engagement Manager for Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: “We wanted to do something more light-hearted to engage with people in a different way to mark our 10th anniversary of Restart a Heart Day.

“As the video will be featured in the competition alongside entries from around the world, we wanted to play on quirky British stereotypes to convey a serious message that when someone has a cardiac arrest, the worst thing you can do is nothing.

“You need to be assertive and act quickly to save a life.”

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​Yorkshire Ambulance Service approached staff member, ambulance dispatcher Perri Ann Barley, a playwright and member of the Blue Light Theatre Company, to write the script.

Her husband Craig, a York paramedic of 24 years, directed and stars in the video, alongside other ambulance staff and fellow members of the Blue Light Theatre Company.