Calls for more first aid training as shocking stats revealed
Study shows how basic first aid could save 60% of lives if they are treated before the emergency services arrive.
A study by the University of Manchester and the British Red Cross has found 60 percent of people who died from an injury before they got to hospital could have been prevented by basic first aid skills.
New information presented by the charity show out of 178 pre-hospital deaths, between 45 and 59 percent of them were potentially preventable.
Health experts are now pushing for first aid to be taught in schools and as a mandatory part of a driving test in order to prevent more deaths from occurring.
They also believe a wider range of first aid courses should be openly available to the public.
The two main skills being pushed to be taught in schools are being able to open someone’s airway by putting them on their side and tilting back their head and how to put pressure on a bleeding wound.
Most people tend to call 999 in an emergency, which is the right thing to do, however, the head of First Aid Education Joe Mulligan says: “after calling 999 we want people to then do something in those crucial minutes before the ambulance arrives, every person needs to recognise that in an emergency, you are part of the 'chain of survival'.
For more information on first aid visit the website .