Teaching first aid in primary schools could save lives

A teenager and two 10-year-old girls are among those urging the Scottish government to back the teaching of first aid in all primaries, arguing the move would cut down on those too terrified to act in an emergency.The trio appeared today before a Scottish Parliament committee, along with East Renfrewshire primary teacher Colin Peebles and St Andrew's First Aid chief executive Stuart Callison, in a bid to persuade MSPs to back a petition calling for training to be part of the school curriculum. The petition was lodged with the Scottish Parliament in November and gained around 600 signatures. Mr Callison said Scotland was “poor by European standards” and close to the bottom of European league tables when it came to “bystander interventions” – when someone who happens to be near an incident applies their first aid skills – and first aid training numbers. He also said that whilst children living in deprived areas were more likely to encounter a medical emergency – because health in deprived areas was generally poorer and they were more likely to encounter violence – they were less likely to know what to do. He said that after introducing a similar school-training programme,  Denmark increased bystander intervention from 20 per cent to 70 per cent. However, it was acknowledged by the committee – and the petitioners – that schools and teachers already had demanding workloads and a wide-ranging curriculum to cover.