First Aid: Education

Mr. Iain Wright
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what principles underpin first-aid education delivered in schools; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight
The Department’s ‘Safefy Education: Guidance for schools DfES/0161/2002’ provides information on how the framework for Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) can address the issue of accidental injury arid death in children and young people. The framework includes teaching young people at primary school level about school rules relating to health and safety issues, and at secondary school level to develop skills to cope with emergencies, including first aid and resuscitation techniques. Beyond this, the guidance also highlights how other parts of the national curriculum can be used to develop children's ability to recognise hazards and respond appropriately to risky situations.

The Department encourages schools to develop strategies that are effective at a local level in raising the profile of safety education and dealing with medical emergencies, working with suitable partners where appropriate to do so. We are aware of the valuable support that organisations such as the British Red Cross offer individual schools or groups of schools at a local level to enrich curriculum work in this area.