Schools urged to create an army of life-savers

SCHOOLS are being urged to make first aid training compulsory in the wake of the Westminster attack – as charities reported increased interest in people learning life-saving skills.

Home grown terrorist Khalid Masood’s attack left four victims dead, and resulted in images being beamed around the world of heroic MP Tobias Ellwood trying to save stricken police officer Keith Palmer.

The Tory politician, a former British Army officer, was photographed administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation to the badly injured bobby, with a streak of the officer’s blood smearing his ashen face.

The brave intervention has resulted in calls for Mr Ellwood to be honoured – but it has also sparked widespread interest from people desperate to know more about first aid.

At present it is estimated around half of all Scots have never received any sort of first aid training.

But experts believe the problem could be stemmed with widespread education administered via our schools.

Joanna Dunbar, managing director of Stewart First Aid Training, which provides workplace tuition in life-saving skills to leading UK companies, thinks it is vital young children are shown how to save lives when disaster hits.

And she insisted a new generation of life-savers could be created if schools made first aid part of the curriculum.

She said: “There are few schools I know of that actually do that. I think it should be on the curriculum.

“It’s such a fantastic skill, and we know the techniques they are learning do save lives.”

The British Heart Foundation previously called for CPR to be made “an integral part of the school curriculum”.

Joanna’s comments come as first aid trainers revealed they’d received a surge of interest in the aftermath of the atrocity.

Staff at St John Ambulance said their internet traffic had soared following the attack.