The Festive season is one of the busiest for A&E departments with more than 80,000 injuries, pushing the monthly average number of accidents in the UK to its highest level¹. Injuries range from burns sustained from lighting the Christmas pudding to electrocutions from fairy lights and, while they may add a bizarre twist to the statistics, they are still very serious and, in some cases, result in death¹. Instant first aid intervention might prevent these deaths – and would certainly reduce the severity of the injuries but, the chances are that anyone present when the accident occurred wouldn’t have a clue about what to do.

The UK is one of the lowest-ranking countries in Europe when it comes to knowledge on how to administer first aid. Fewer than four out of 10 Brits would know what to do if they saw someone have an accident or suffer a heart attack. This compares extremely unfavourably with the 80% of people in Germany and Scandinavia who possess first aid skills as a direct result of first aid training which is an integral part of both the school curriculum and vehicle driving test.

No-one knows better the importance of encouraging more Brits to learn how to save a life than Beth Chesney-Evans whose son, Guy, died in a motorbike accident when he was just 17. The teenager suffered no injuries at all but died because he stopped breathing. According to the pathologist at the inquest, Guy’s heart probably stopped due to an undiagnosed heart arrhythmia, which no-one knew anything about.

Similar to the condition that caused Bolton Wanderers player, Fabrice Muamba, to collapse in front of millions of TV viewers on the football pitch, arrhythmia causes the heart to beat irregularly, which can lead to sudden cardiac arrest.
Maumba touched the lives of millions and he was fortunate that expert help was available to keep him alive. In Guy’s case, the three friends riding with him at the time hadn’t had any first aid training themselves, weren’t given any first aid instructions by the emergency services and had to stand there as he died.

They are not alone. It is estimated that that as many as 140,000 lives might be saved each year if someone with the necessary training was able to offer instant first aid 2.

Beth is a fierce campaigner for making first aid training an integral part of the school curriculum as in Wales and Northern Ireland, and for making it a compulsory part of the driving test.

“First aid is a vital life skill and we’re failing our young people if we don’t give them the chance to learn it. For Guy’s sake, I’m determined to carry on campaigning to ensure this happens,” says Beth.

Beth also works closely with St John Ambulance and last April, she helped the charity to launch the first All Party Parliamentary Group for First Aid. The APPG’s key focus is practical - offering free first aid training to MPs.