Children and families bill: British Red Cross urges government to go further and make first aid accessible to teachers and pupils

The charity welcomed reports that the Department of Education has amended the children and families bill to cater for the training of teachers to help those who suffer asthma attacks and epileptic fits. The move by itself however, fails to cover other health emergencies that may affect young people, the Red Cross said.

Jonathan Ellis, the British Red Cross head of policy, research and advocacy said: “It's commendable that the government will now train teachers to help when such incidents happen, but what happens when these emergencies occur in the absence of teachers?

“We know that most accidents happen on the playground and when teachers or adults are not close by. This is why we would like to see first aid education made mandatory to all students at primary and secondary level across the country,” Ellis explained.

Research shows that the UK is currently lagging behind most of Europe in terms of the number of young people and students trained with first aid skills.

Studies also show that only 20 per cent of secondary school students in England and Wales have learned first aid in the classroom; and just 4 per cent of them would step forward to help someone needing first aid assistance.

Earlier this year, the British Red Cross ran the Pupil, Citizen, Life-saver campaign urging the government to put first aid at the heart of England's new national curriculum. The charity continues to explore ways of engaging the government on the issue.

Young people themselves are keen to learn first aid: 91 percent of students would like to learn first aid at school, findings show. This makes it all the more unfortunate that government has decided to ignore this essential discussion.