General Tips

You can usually find First Aid Courses (free through the NHS) through your health visitor. Just ask them when the next one is on and book yourself in.

The first ever first aid course I went to, I brought my daughter along to. I would recommend you NOT to bring your child. As we weren’t allowed to bring the buggies into the room, most of the time was spent taking care of my daughter who was barely two months old, and I took pretty much nothing in. When we were practicing on the training dolls, most of the children were on the floor and within seconds a cacophony of wailing started. The majority of mothers there (including myself) were pretty stressed. Even if we had been allowed to bring buggies, I would recommend doing it on your own. Please remember, that your partner/husband can also request to go. My husband did.

The brilliant paramedic Norman Abbott in action.

I host first aid courses with paramedic Norman Abbott about four times a year. For details on the next one, please click HERE. If you would like to get a group together and organise it yourself, it can be done for FREE and booked very easily by contacting Norman Abbott on norman.abbott@lond-amb.nhs.uk. He is a paramedic and works for the NHS Ambulance Service.

Below are details of first aid courses provided by others.

• St John Ambulance – Paediatric First Aid Course

• British Red Cross – First Aid for child-carers

Baby Resuscitation & First Aid Workshop

This essential workshop in First Aid for babies will ensure that you know how to resuscitate a baby or young child in the event of an emergency. It is very rare for babies to need emergency first aid yet, when a child chokes or has trouble breathing, effective resuscitation can save a life and prevent brain damage. It is surprising how few parents, baby sitters, grandparents and child minders have been taught how to deal with such a situation, yet just one day could make the difference to a life, and a family¹s future.