Over one thousand children are set to benefit from life-saving first aid training thanks to a County Durham initiative.
Durham County Council, in partnership with charity St John Ambulance, has organised and funded the scheme to teach children what to do in the case of an emergency.
A total of 1,080 children and young people from primary school to sixth form college age, are taking part in the training sessions, which cover topics including: choking, resuscitation, severe bleeding and the recovery position.
At Byers Green Primary School in Spennymoor, more than 50 students aged seven to 11 have already taken part in the training. Headteacher Bill Kirtley said: “This is the first time I’ve organised first aid in school and it was very successful. The students enjoyed it but took it seriously, too.
“It’s really important for everybody to learn first aid – adults and children alike. The council obviously recognises this and the fact that the training was free was even more appealing.
“In my opinion, first aid is a life skill, like learning to swim.”
The training scheme, which was developed by the council’s Safer Communities team, was originally only offered to secondary schools in the Durham County Council area, but was later extended to include primary schools as well. Steve McCallan, Safer Communities Officer at Durham County Council said: “Since we rolled the scheme out even further, the response rate has increased significantly and we hope to provide the same scheme to many more schools. There are now 1,080 children and young people, countywide, who will have the skills to really make a difference in an emergency situation and at a cost of just over £2.80 per student, this really is such a small price to pay to equip people to help save a life.”
During the three-hour training sessions, staff will also identify one or possibly two students who could become “first aid champions” for their respective school.
These champions will then work with St John Ambulance to promote first aid within the school and community, encourage others to sign up to courses and be offered support to set up ‘First Aid Clubs’ within their schools.
St John Ambulance regional training manager, David Nicklen, said: “While our charity campaigns for first aid to become part of the school curriculum, support like this from Durham County Council is very welcome. It is helping to create a generation of life savers.”
Primary and secondary schools are also invited to take part in the St John Ambulance Big First Aid Lesson on Friday, 17 June. This is a free, one-hour lesson live on the internet presented this year by children’s TV medic Dr Ranj.
For more information about first aid training visit www.sja.co.uk, email north-east-training@sja.org.uk or telephone 01924 262726.