British Red Cross survey reveals that only 9% of UK parents feel able to perform first aid
14:54 - 26/11/2009
British Red Cross survey reveals that...
A recent survey by the British Red Cross polled 325 parents across the UK, all of whom had a child under the age of 5, and found that 46% were scared of doing something wrong while only 9% felt confident and willing to perform first aid on their child.
The survey, conducted during Parent’s Week (19th – 25th October), tested parents on their general first aid knowledge and focused particularly on the recovery position, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the treatment of bleeding wounds. In addition to being quizzed on what forms of action they would take in several different scenarios, participants were also assessed on their confidence and readiness to act if confronted with an emergency situation.
Only 9% of parents were able to respond to three first aid scenarios in the correct manner and rated themselves as strongly confident and willing to respond to an emergency situation.
These results follow other recent surveys which show that over a million children each year in the UK are involved in an accident at home. These worrying statistics, coupled with the limited knowledge and confidence demonstrated by this poll, raises concern with the Red Cross.
Joe Mulligan, head of first aid education services at the British Red Cross, said: “Nothing is more important to a parent than the health, happiness and well being of their child. The lack of confidence or fear of getting something wrong is a concern amongst parents. However accidents do happen and typically the carer or parent will be first on the scene.”
First aid techniques differ when applied to children because of their size and so First Response Training offers paediatric first aid courses on both an introductory and advanced level. The Basic Paediatric First Aid course is designed for parents, child minders and child carers. It covers basic emergency procedures, including practical training for the resuscitation of babies and children and is four hours in duration.
For further information please call First Response today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or e-mail info@firstresponsetraining.com.
The survey, conducted during Parent’s Week (19th – 25th October), tested parents on their general first aid knowledge and focused particularly on the recovery position, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the treatment of bleeding wounds. In addition to being quizzed on what forms of action they would take in several different scenarios, participants were also assessed on their confidence and readiness to act if confronted with an emergency situation.
Only 9% of parents were able to respond to three first aid scenarios in the correct manner and rated themselves as strongly confident and willing to respond to an emergency situation.
These results follow other recent surveys which show that over a million children each year in the UK are involved in an accident at home. These worrying statistics, coupled with the limited knowledge and confidence demonstrated by this poll, raises concern with the Red Cross.
Joe Mulligan, head of first aid education services at the British Red Cross, said: “Nothing is more important to a parent than the health, happiness and well being of their child. The lack of confidence or fear of getting something wrong is a concern amongst parents. However accidents do happen and typically the carer or parent will be first on the scene.”
First aid techniques differ when applied to children because of their size and so First Response Training offers paediatric first aid courses on both an introductory and advanced level. The Basic Paediatric First Aid course is designed for parents, child minders and child carers. It covers basic emergency procedures, including practical training for the resuscitation of babies and children and is four hours in duration.
For further information please call First Response today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or e-mail info@firstresponsetraining.com.
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