St John Ambulance to hold free life-saving first aid training in Banbury this weekend

The free first aid training is a part of the charity’s Save a Life September campaign.

The campaign was launched after research found that only 43 per cent of the public know how to use CPR to save someone in cardiac arrest.

Research by Censuswide also showed that less than a third of people know how to use a defibrillator and less than four in 10 people know how to treat a serious bleed.

St John Ambulance head of community education, Carl Makins, said: “This September we plan to show thousands of members of the public how to save lives, focusing on the first aid that they most want to learn. Tragically, due to the rise in knife crime, it feels particularly relevant to be teaching people how to treat severe blood loss.

“It’s vital more of us within our communities know how to respond to the life-threatening situations, which many of us will sadly face in our lives.

“There are nearly 300 deaths a year due to choking, yet more than half of us don’t know how to give back blows to clear someone’s airway. It’s so often those quick actions taken by people who find themselves first on scene in the critical minutes before an ambulance arrives, that make the difference between life and death.”

The charity hopes that 50,000 people will attend the community first aid sessions around the country throughout September.

St John Ambulance will be in Spiceball Country Park from 9.30am until 3.30pm on September 7.