Lack Of First Aid 'Killing Thousands'

Up to 150,000 people a year could be given a chance to live if more people knew first aid, according to St John Ambulance.

Thousands of people are dying each year in situations where first aid could have made the difference, the charity said.

This includes nearly 900 people who choke to death, 2,500 who asphyxiate from a blocked airway and 29,000 who die from heart attacks.

The startling figure is more than four times the number who die of lung cancer each year, the most common cause of death from cancer.

According to research by St John's, nearly two-thirds of people (59%) wouldn’t feel confident enough to try to save a life.

While a quarter (24%) would do nothing and wait for an ambulance to arrive or hope that a passer-by knows first aid.

The charity is urging everyone to get a free pocket-sized guide featuring first aid skills that can help in five common life-threatening situations by texting LIFE to 85010.

Sue Killen, CEO, St John Ambulance said: "We believe that anyone who needs first aid should receive it. Our latest research shows that’s just not happening.

"We can’t rely on other people to have the skills - everyone should take the responsibility to learn first aid themselves. Armed with this knowledge we can all be the difference between a life lost and a life saved."

The campaign is backed by Beth Chesney-Evans, who believes her son might be alive today if he had been given basic first aid.

Guy Evans died in August 2008, when he was 17, after his motorcycle crashed near his home in Didcot, Oxfordshire.

Ms Chesney-Evans said: "I'll never know whether Guy could have survived; but because he didn't get any first aid, he didn’t have a chance."

She added: "I'm supporting St John Ambulance’s campaign because I want to give others the chance Guy didn't have. I don’t want him to have died in vain."

(PR/BMcC)