Navendu Mishra meets with St John Ambulance

I was delighted to meet with St John Ambulance at the Labour Party Conference to learn lifesaving first aid skills. St John Ambulance have a large base in Stockport and I thank all volunteers and staff for the work they do to keep people in our community safe.

With 30,000 people in the UK experiencing an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and only 1 out of 10 surviving, St John Ambulance is focusing on community first aid. This means upskilling and supporting communities so that people can act quickly and confidently if first on the scene.

Following the success of the Three Ways to Save a Life campaign, which saw St John volunteers teach 16,000 people in Manchester how to deal with a cardiac arrest, choking and bleeding emergency, the charity invited me to learn the same skills. We had an interesting discussion about the ways in which education can have a positive impact on the health needs of communities.

This month, members of the public have the chance to learn or refresh their CPR and defibrillator knowledge as part of this year’s Restart a Heart Day, which was on 16th October. St John’s volunteers and cadets will be out and about in communities sharing lifesaving skills during free first aid awareness sessions. To join a session, visit www.sja.org.uk/RestartAHeart.

For further information on how to get involved with St John Ambulance’s work or to access first aid advice please visit: www.sja.org.uk/