King Charles proved an enthusiastic trainee medic as he tried his hand at CPR during a visit to the Royal College of Nurses in London.
The monarch performed chest compressions on a mannequin and joked ‘at least I haven’t broken it’ as he refreshed his first aid skills.
He also observed three clinical first aid demonstrations, including rescuing from choking, infection prevention and CPR.
The King, 76, described administering CPR as ‘tiring’ and could be heard asking ‘how many’ before reaching 28 out of 30 chest compressions.
Cadet Mia Alami guided his actions, telling the King to ‘keep your arms straight’ and keep his shoulders above the hands for the correct pressure.
She later said he did ‘very well’ and his demonstration was received by a round of applause.
It is understood that the monarch has undertaken first aid training in the last few years, having initially had training in the military.
More recently, the King has had first responder training in Scotland, learning, for example, what to do when coming across an injured hiker on a walk.
King Charles, 76, proved an enthusiastic trainee medic as he tried his hand at CPR during a visit to the Royal College of Nurses in London on Saturday
The monarch is understood to have viewed his visit to the RCN as a ‘refresher’ in his first aid knowledge and it is hoped that his hands-on participation will encourage others to take up learning how to potentially save someone’s life.
His visit on Tuesday marked a celebration of the 1,000th RCN King’s Nursing Cadet, a scheme launched in 2019 and inspired by the King, to help cadets acquire new skills.
While watching the choking demonstration, the King was told that increased choking could be ‘an age thing,’ as he appeared to suggest it happens to him – particularly with drinks going down the ‘wrong way’.
He later remarked that CPR was ‘effective work’ but said that ‘the most difficult thing is analysing whether that’s what you need to do, or whether it’s something else.’
Speaking to Ms Alami, he said there was ‘such a huge queue of people trying to get into the cadets,’ but stressed the importance of getting ‘extra people’ into the field of nursing.
During the visit he met and presented a framed certificate to 16-year-old Harrison Rigby, who has become the 1,000th cadet.
The monarch performed chest compressions on a mannequin and joked ‘at least I haven’t broken it’ as he refreshed his first aid skills
He also observed three clinical first aid demonstrations, including rescuing from choking, infection prevention and CPR
Before departing, the monarch told the cadets he was ‘really proud’ of them, adding that ‘we’ll be relying on you more and more’
The King told Mr Rigby, from Colchester, that he was ‘so glad to be able to give you this’ and joked with him about how his twin brother Jefferson drew the ‘short straw’ by being the 999th cadet.
Before departing, the monarch told the cadets he was ‘really proud’ of them, adding that ‘we’ll be relying on you more and more’.
Professor Nicola Ranger, the chief executive of the RCN, said Charles’s visit as patron and creator of the cadet scheme was ‘so important’ to inspire others to join nursing.
She said: ‘He’s our patron and of course he started the Prince of Wales cadet scheme, but he decided to keep it and upgrade it to the King’s cadet scheme so we’re just so delighted.
‘Particularly when nursing in the UK is under real challenge with trying to recruit people in, so this for us is a real boost.’
