Parents’ campaign for first aid training

Little Harvey’s tragic death has prompted his parents to campaign.

Miss Spicer and Mr Coyle would like to see basic first aid taught to all new parents.

Miss Spicer said: “Everyone needs to learn this. If you foster or adopt children you need first aid training.

“They give you ante-natal classes. Why not teach this too? They teach you how to breastfeed, how to put the child safely to bed. Why not spend five minutes teaching first aid?”

Mr Coyle said: “We’ll never know if that knowledge could have made a difference.

“It seemed like hours between us finding Harvey like that and the ambulance arriving.

“In reality it was only a few minutes but every second counts. Surely it’s a good thing if new parents have that knowledge? I wish I’d had it.

“We might have been able to do something instantly that made all the difference. Who knows?”

Marita Edwards, St John Ambulance’s schools and community first aid training co-ordinator, says first aid is a simple skill to learn but it can have “an incredible impact”.

“Our advice to any parent, grandparent or carer is to learn these skills so you have the confidence to use them should you need to,” he said.

Go to www.change.org and search for “first aid for all parents” to sign Miss Spicer and Mr Coyle’s petition