First aid could help save a life

THE Tele is proud to launch a new campaign today, encouraging people to sign up to take potentially life-saving first aid courses (see pages 4&5).

Yesterday we told of the heroic actions of postwoman Nicola Johnson, who helped an unconscious woman in a multi by administering CPR until an ambulance crew arrived, using skills she had learned on a training course. We also told the tragic tale earlier this week of how a delivery driver had battled in vain to save a 60-year-old man after he had collapsed in a close.

Although these incidents had different outcomes, they highlighted to us the importance of being able to offer help to someone who has taken seriously ill.

Those few seconds or minutes of support until the professionals arrive can be the difference between life and death.

But if you don’t know what to do when faced with such circumstances, it can be a hindrance rather than a help.

And that’s why we want to call on all our readers to sign up to take a first aid course, giving them the tools they need to offer assistance if faced with a serious medical situation involving a friend, a family member or even a stranger.

As our campaign will highlight, a number of organisations offer a range of different types of training in first aid — and each of them is as important as the next one.

Even some basic skills, such as being able to put someone in the recovery position, can be vital in keeping a person alive.

Over the coming days we will provide information on where and when people can learn vital medical and first aid skills, and speak to the experts on why it’s important that as many people as possible Learn to be a Lifesaver.