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Charles has been trained in CPR and was happy to join a demonstration when he visited the headquarters of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in central London, to celebrate a scheme introducing young people to the healthcare profession.
With 17-year-old cadet Mia Alami guiding his actions and telling him to “keep your arms straight”, the King pumped the chest of the patient – just a head and torso – making it click to demonstrate he was providing the right pressure.
When he reached 28 chest compressions, counted by the teenager, he received a round of applause and later joked: “At least I haven’t broken it.”
It is hoped Charles’s actions will encourage others to refresh their first aid skills or seek to learn.
His visit celebrated the 1,000th RCN King’s Nursing Cadet, a scheme launched in 2019 and inspired by Charles, then the Prince of Wales, to help cadets acquire new skills.
Mia, who has just completed her cadet course, said: “I was telling him to keep his arms straight, shoulders above the hands so you get the correct pressure because it has to be 5cm-6cm deep – he did very good.”
The King also watched cadets practising the technique for removing a blockage from a patient’s throat, and others learning about hygiene best practice.
He presented the 1,000th cadet, Harrison Rigby, 16, from Colchester, with his certificate after the teenager had completed 40 hours of teaching and learning experience plus 20 hours of clinical observation.
The 16-year-old’s twin brother Jefferson was standing nearby and was the 999th person to finish the cadet course, and when the King was told he had just missed out on the milestone, Jefferson joked “I drew the short straw”.
Harrison, who like his twin wants to become an Army doctor, said after the visit: “I got to spend the day on the Basildon cardiac ward, it was incredible getting to see all the doctors and nurses go through their procedures pre-op and post-op – it was an incredible experience.”
Before leaving, Charles spent time chatting to cadets and those supporting the scheme, with his host the RCN’s general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger.
The King told the cadets: “I’m very proud of you all, hope you have great success. We’ll be relying on you more and more to keep everything going.”
Prof Ranger said about the royal visit: “We’re just so delighted particularly when nursing in the UK is under real challenge trying to recruit people into nursing. So this for us is a real boost, that’s why we’re so delighted that he was here.
“He was very informed about the challenges for nursing and that’s why the scheme is so important to him, because nearly all of those young people have gone on to a job in healthcare and we think that’s a great way for young people to kind of start coming into the profession.”
