Babcock and St John Ambulance join forces to equip school children with life saving skills

Thousands of school children across Surrey are set to learn the skills to save a life, thanks to a new partnership between Babcock International Group and St John Ambulance, the nation’s leading first aid charity.

The partnership will unite the two organisations in a common charitable cause – namely, giving school children the first aid skills that can be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.

Newly launched for 2015, Babcock’s Support Services Division is funding a series of first aid training courses delivered by St John Ambulance to pupils in Surrey.

In the county, Babcock’s education business  – Babcock 4S, a joint venture partnership with Surrey County Council  – delivers education improvement and support services across over 400 schools. In the autumn, Babcock 4S invited all the council’s schools to take up one of the training courses and so far over 150 courses have been booked, which equates to over 4,500 schoolchildren receiving first aid training this year.

The training sessions for the pupils can be created specifically to suit their needs; from an introduction to resuscitation (which includes the primary survey, the recovery position and cardiopulmonary resuscitation) to other essential life saving skills, such as how to treat choking, shock, burns and scalds, fainting and chest pains.

Mark Farmer, Regional Director for St John Ambulance in the South East, commented: “Our partnership with Babcock will enable St John Ambulance to create a new generation of lifesavers, by training thousands of school children in first aid. This will give a long lasting benefit to communities across the county, as all the young people trained could potentially be the difference between a life lost or a life saved, whether it’s a friend, family member or complete stranger.”

Amanda Fisher, Babcock’s Director of Education Services, said: “We are delighted  with this wonderful association as it reflects our commitment through our joint venture with Surrey County Council to make a positive difference in the community and to benefit children, young people and learners.  Our employees are also setting up a range of fundraising and volunteering activities in the workplace.

“Our sponsorship, as part of a wider two-year partnering arrangement with St John Ambulance, will help them empower more people with the most important skills they could have – the skills to save lives.”

One of the first schools to benefit from the new partnership is Boxgrove Primary School in Guildford. During two first aid training sessions held at the school, 60 Year 5 and 6 students (aged 10 and 11 years old), were taught essential skills such as how to treat bleeding and bandaging.

Rebecca Stacey, Co-Headteacher, Boxgrove Primary School, commented: “As a school we feel strongly about educating our children in life skills.  Thanks to Babcock funding this course, our children have learnt invaluable skills in first aid. The two hour session covered the basics of first aid and bandaging.  The children thoroughly enjoyed the interactive activities and have come away confident in dealing with a minor incident.”

Joe, a Year 5 pupil at the school, added: “It was an enjoyable experience.  The leader was fun and engaging and taught us how to apply bandages and put people in the recovery position.  I enjoyed that the best.  I feel I could apply bandages to any of my family who are injured.”

For further information about first aid training in schools, please call 0303 003 0101 or email [email protected] or go to www.sja.org.uk