General Tips

You used to be able to find First Aid Courses (free through the NHS) through your health visitor, but due to funding cuts I am not sure if they still run. Check with your health visitor.

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.

I used to host first aid courses with paramedic Norman Abbott about four times a year. However, due to funding cuts the London Ambulance Service stopped doing them. I still live in hope so you could always contact Norman on norman.abbott@lond-amb.nhs.uk to see if they have started doing them again.

The brilliant paramedic Norman Abbott in action.

Below are details of first aid courses provided by private companies.

• St John Ambulance – Paediatric First Aid Courses

• British Red Cross – First Aid for child-carers

• Daisy First Aid – Paediatric First Aid Courses