Parents' lack of first aid knowledge putting children's lives at risk

At least one child dies in an accident in the home every week – but 25% of parents have NO first aid knowledge whatsoever.

A new study of 2,000 parents reveals millions of children’s lives are at risk because their mums and dads don’t have the appropriate life-saving skills. Frighteningly, one in five parents have found themselves in the situation where their child needed urgent first aid – but 11% panicked and froze, leaving them unable to help at all.

Only 31% of parents were confident about how to help their child during this emergency, while 38% were convinced their child was going to die and one in five were worried they would be left injured.

Scroll down for video

Sadly, 23% of parents have experienced their child choking, 14% of children have reportedly had a seizure and one in 20 has had a serious allergic reaction.

But despite the shockingly high occurrence of first aid emergencies, six in 10 British homes DON’T have a first aid kit.

Siobhan Freegard, founder of ChannelMum.com, which has teamed up with St John Ambulance to produce a new video on how to save a life in 60 seconds, said: “Giving first aid to a baby of child can be frightening, but not as frightening as not knowing what to do.

“We want to reassure parents they can learn first aid basics quickly, that could make all the difference if their child or someone else’s falls ill.

“This week, give us just seven minute to start watching our video course and learn all you need to know.”

The report shows that 22% of mums and dads have no baby or child first aid knowledge and 85% admit they are not up to date with the latest first aid technologies.

Isobel Kearly, National Training Officer at St John Ambulance, said: “These videos are a great starting point for parent first aid and highlight how easy and quick it is to learn these essential life-saving skills.

“For parents looking to further their first aid knowledge, our basic first aid courses take between just three to six hours and provide hands on experience. Once parents know what to do, they have the confident to take action quickly and are able to act if needed.”

The new seven video series included expert tips from TV GP Dr Dawn Harper and real-life experiences from top mummy vloggers such as My Kent Family's Charlie O’Brien, Nilly Dahlia and Kate Murnane (Dolly BowBow).