SCHOOLS in Dorset are being offered the opportunity to create a generation of young life savers- free of charge.
St John Ambulance is using funds raised in the South West to deliver first aid training to 7 to 11-year-olds as part of the charity’s aim of teaching 18,000 children in the region by the end of 2014.
Pupils can get a taste of what the training covers via the Big First Aid Lesson on June 20.
Dorchester-based first aid training co-ordinator, Grant Wilson said: ‘We believe that first aid should be as much a part of growing up as learning to cross the road. It’s so easy to learn and can have such an incredible impact on people’s lives but, because it’s not compulsory on the national curriculum, only a minority of schoolchildren would know what to do if one of their classmates, or a member of their family became ill or injured.”
The call to train more youngsters comes as new research shows that 97 percent of the area’s teachers think it’s vital to teach essential first aid skills in school, but only 22 percent of schools offer training.
For more information visit sja.org.uk/bigfirstaidlesson
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