Do you know what to do if you see people hurt in a car crash?  If a child scalds himself with boiling water?  If an elderly man collapses clutching his chest?  Most people don’t and lives are needlessly lost when a bit of first aid would have saved them.  Each year in the UK, accidents just in the home, kill 4,000 people and injure 2,800,000.  It’s worth knowing at least the basics of what to do.

St John Ambulance - http://www.sja.org.uk/sja - is an informative site.  It tells you how to deal with a variety of emergencies.  Perhaps more usefully it offers a variety of short courses – from 3 hours to 28 hours of training.  And they can run courses in the workplace.  I haven’t asked them but I would think they would be delighted to run courses in schools and colleges too.

Another good site is http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/accidents-and-first-aid/Pages/Introduction.aspx?url=Pages/What-is-it.aspx - that old favourite, NHS Direct.  It’s factual and informative with useful tips like what to keep in a home first aid kit.