Bailiwick is top of the class in first aid

Guernsey is leading the way in schools’ first aid education according to Specsavers co-founder Dame Mary Perkins.

St John Training Services has delivered free first aid training to 13,923 students across the Bailiwick since 2008 as part of the ‘Schools First Aid Programme’ sponsored by Specsavers.

This includes almost 2,000 students across years three, four and five in Guernsey, Herm, Sark and Alderney in the last school year alone.

The programme covers first aid basics such as choking, bleeding, seizures and CPR and has a flexible syllabus which allows schools to tailor courses to fit their timetable and syllabus.

The sessions are delivered by Katie Sweeney and Suzanne Torode, St John Training Services’ dedicated schools’ first aid trainers.

In comparison, research has shown that seven out of 10 pupils in the UK would not know what to do if someone they knew was hurt and only a quarter of schools currently teaches CPR.

Dame Mary Perkins, co-founder of Specsavers, said: “I am pleased we can help St John teach life-saving skills to a generation of local children and it’s fantastic to see the island lead the way in first aid education. It is essential that young islanders learn first aid early on - the earlier they learn the more likely it will become a lesson that stays with them for life.”

Steve Ford, managing director of St John Training Services, said: ‘Basic first aid training can make all the difference in an emergency situation. Our Schools First Aid Programme aims to ensure that young islanders have the confidence and skills to handle a range of medical emergencies, as well as to know when and how to seek help from the emergency services.

“First aid education in schools is essential and we are very grateful to Specsavers for ensuring this programme can continue.”

In the UK St John Ambulance has joined forces with the British Heart Foundation and the British Red Cross to launch ‘Every Child a Lifesaver’, a campaign to make first aid compulsory in all state-funded secondary schools.

The campaign aims to encourage the public and politicians to support the Emergency Education Bill which will have its second reading in Parliament on 20 November.

There are 30,00 cardiac arrests out of the hospital every year in the UK but currently less than one in 10 survive. Research shows that in places where CPR is taught in schools, survival rates are up to three times higher.