Should children be taught First Aid?

There has been debate recently about whether children should be taught first aid at school. The argument being that first aid is a life skill which everyone can and should learn at a young age. Organisations such as the Red Cross have been a key crusader in first aid education for young ones, even dedicating a specific area on their website to the cause, so what do you think?

According to St Johns Ambulance around 140,000 people die every year from injuries and sudden illness who could have had a chance of survival had they experienced immediate first aid. They also state that only 1 in 10 people people could or would administer CPR or first aid if someone needed it. This could be for a number of reasons, perhaps they're unsure as to how to administer first aid, they may not feel comfortable administering CPR, or they may be concerned that they are going to do it wrong. So, is there a solution to this?

The confidence and skills in administrating vital first aid needs to be approved across the country as a whole, which these statistics show. So, how can we increase the confidence and skills of the whole nation so we all feel confident and capable of administrating first aid to anybody on the street. Perhaps teaching first aid to children in schools is the answer, which Wales and Ireland have already implemented, however Scotland and England are yet to follow suit.

Some children are forced to learn first aid at a young age as they have parents who have medical conditions which may require treatment. However there are more children who don't have any idea as to how they'd administer first aid to save a life. If we were to teach children basic first aid skills, then we'd be teaching an entire generation how to save a life.

it's believed that children are less likely to have the 'Bystander' effect. The more people there are at the scene of an accident, the less likely anyone else is to help as they expect someone else to take charge. However, children are less likely to have any inhibitions and more likely to assist the patient.

What do you think about children learning first aid? Would you feel comfortable that a child could do the best job in an emergency? We'd love to hear your thoughts on our Facebook page.