Learn How To Save A Life This September
St John Ambulance, the nation's leading first aid charity, is again running its Save a Life September.
Launched in 2011, the scheme was hugely successful and over 70,000 people received free first aid guides as part of the campaign.
This year the charity wants to reach even more people to equip them with vital first aid skills.
Throughout September, the charity will be giving free demonstrations at locations across the country. The public will learn how to save a life using five easy to follow techniques and will receive a free pocket-sized first aid guide to carry in case of emergency.
Visitors are welcome to just turn up on the day and will be able to watch and take part in demonstrations of the recovery position and CPR and also learn how to treat bleeding, choking and heart attacks.
Research carried out by St John Ambulance before the campaign showed that up to 150,000 people die every year in situations where first aid could have given them the chance to live.
This includes nearly 900 people who choke to death, 2,500 who asphyxiate from a blocked airway and 29,000 who die from heart attacks.
In addition, the charity found that around 58% people wouldn't know what to do if faced with a medical emergency and a quarter would do nothing.
Learning first aid is one of the single most important things you can do in your life. You never know when you may need it - at work, at home, in school, playing sport - you just don’t know. With basic first aid skills, anyone can be the difference between a life lost and a life saved and what could be more important than saving someone's life?
By launching Save a Life September and holding first aid demonstrations across the country, we want to reach as many people as possible, so that more people are equipped with the skills to save a life. Anyone who needs first aid should get it and armed with this knowledge we can all be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.
Ralph Brown, Regional Training Manager for St John Ambulance
To find out more about events in your area, visit sja.org.uk/sja or call 08700 10 49 50