Parliament Workbench

Petition · PE01711 · Session 5

First Aid Training for All Primary School Children in Scotland

Closed Submitted 27 Sep 2018 Health
Signatures
0
675 online signatures with a country
Comments
54
Considered
4 meetings
in the Official Report

What it asks

Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to
1. Ensure that all primary schools in Scotland incorporate basic first aid as an integral part of their curriculum; and
2. Provide funding in order to develop high quality teaching materials on what to do in common emergencies, as well as to establish training and support for teachers to enable them to deliver these skills during short, interactive first aid workshops.

What the petitioner did first

We have already been in touch with all constituency and regional MSPs and met with the Public Health Minister at the time, Aileen Campbell MSP, to discuss our ambitions. In January of this year, a debate was held in parliament led by Johann Lamont MSP, to highlight the opportunities and value of teaching first aid in primary schools and in May, three of our youngest life-savers hosted a first aid drop in session at the parliament, which was well attended by MSPs from across all parties.
We have also sought to promote the campaign through the media, including BBC Scotland, STV, Bauer Radio, Scottish Sun and a number of regional and local publications and online platforms.

Where it was considered

Official Report
  1. 20 Dec 2018
    Public Petitions Committee
    New Petitions
    1 mention
  2. 7 Mar 2019
    Public Petitions Committee
    Continued Petitions
    1 mention
  3. 20 Jun 2019
    Public Petitions Committee
    Continued Petitions
    4 mentions
  4. 19 Dec 2019
    Public Petitions Committee
    Continued Petitions
    1 mention

Signatures by country

675 online signatures
  1. Scotland520 77%
  2. United Kingdom130 19.3%
  3. England22 3.3%
  4. United States1 0.1%
  5. Germany1 0.1%
  6. Afghanistan1 0.1%

Comments

54 comments, oldest first
54 comments · showing 1–50
  1. Therese McGhee 25 Oct 2018
    Children absorb information from an early age and learning some basic first aid is a knowledge they can carry with them for life.
  2. natalie mccall 25 Oct 2018
    Brilliant idea!
  3. Denise Cruickshanks 25 Oct 2018
    Definitely
  4. william donnelly 26 Oct 2018
    i strongly support school children being given the opportunity o save a life.
  5. Alan Gordon 26 Oct 2018
    This should be annual at all school ages as many health professionals and others needing to do CPR have to update and refresh annually.
  6. Kirsteen Watson 27 Oct 2018
    brilliant idea and should be compulsory, there are some kids leaving school with no qualificatins or certificates. but to leave with a cert in knowing how to save a life would be fantastic
  7. Adele Lundie 28 Oct 2018
    This is a great idea! It should be compulsory in every school in the country.
  8. Jacine Clark 28 Oct 2018
    I am a volunteer with St Andrews First Aid and I teach CPR to young people. I believe we can save many lives by including basic first aid in all primary school curriculum.
  9. Christine Sommerville 29 Oct 2018
    Children should not be deprived of life saving education and skills which are crucial to their life-long learning. We need to create a nation of lifesavers who have the confidence and ability to actually step forward and do something to help others.
  10. Margaret MacKenzie 30 Oct 2018
    I think this is a great idea, more so as there are so many young carers these days looking after parents with illnesses.
  11. Duncan Struan Robertson 30 Oct 2018
    Excellent idea, 1st Aid should be second nature to everyone as early in life as possible!
  12. Linda Harkess 30 Oct 2018
    St. Andrews First Aid are a very important learning community for schools and adults, training can be a life saver
  13. Lyn Forrest 30 Oct 2018
    I think this is a brilliant Idea. Wish they had this when I was at school
  14. Ruth Townsend 30 Oct 2018
    This is a great idea. I wish I had had that opportunity in primary school.
  15. Elaine Thom 31 Oct 2018
    Anyone working with children should be trained in paediatric first aid.
  16. Rokaiya Ali 31 Oct 2018
    This is an opportunity that should be introduced to kids in primary school. It would provide them with the skills and practice that allows them to save someone at home, school or elsewhere in a potential life threatening situation. It is knowledge that is invaluable and we should be introducing it to young children to better educate our population.
  17. Gavin Jenkinson 3 Nov 2018
    First Aid is vital life skill.

    It's must be taught from a young age, as you will not know when you will need to call upon it!
  18. Arlene Raeburn 5 Nov 2018
    Young children learn and absorb information in an intuitive way. To teach these skills early will give them confidence to help in situations where in the future, they may just have been bystanders. I dont think they will be frightened of confronting injuries or symptons of illness if they have an understanding of the body and its functions. I believe it will cascade to others in the childs environment (parents, siblings,friends) through their natural desire to talk and share information. Children and young peole will grow in confidence.
    This teavhing may also encourage ypung people to consider a career in medicine, nursing or allied professions.
    The teaching and learning can and should blend with estabished learning situations within the curriculum.
    Teachers can and should be encouraged to work with the St Andrews association to make this happen across Scotland.
  19. Alexander Bloy 7 Nov 2018
    This is a life skill that should be taught at school from a young age
  20. Allison Carruthers 7 Nov 2018
    Children tend to pick up skills quicker than adults so the sooner they learn these skills the better it will be for them in future life.
  21. Sarah Stringer 7 Nov 2018
    Great idea kids who goto scouts brownies learn 1st aid so be great to expand on this to all kids
  22. stevie courtney 8 Nov 2018
    without a doubt this should be as integral as any other subject in a schools curriculum.
  23. Robert Thomson 8 Nov 2018
    Yes
  24. peter duffy 12 Nov 2018
    this is a must
  25. James Hill 12 Nov 2018
    Its madness that this isn't already done. The Heartstart stuff in Glasgow is a poor substitute.
  26. Debbie Carr 12 Nov 2018
    Children are amazing at learning new skills from a very young age and in turn this could help them & others
  27. Gail Currie 12 Nov 2018
    First aid should be part of health and well-being ...for some it saves lives and pupils like the one mentioned can do just that...SAVE LIVES
  28. Joan Cosgrove 12 Nov 2018
    Good luck. Support you all the way
  29. Donna Buchan 12 Nov 2018
    This is such a no-brainer. How could being more educated about something so important not be a good thing?
  30. David gould 12 Nov 2018
    Everybody should learn it
  31. James Hanly 12 Nov 2018
    Absolutely
  32. Julie-ann Mcglinchey 12 Nov 2018
    Absolutely!!
  33. derek hall 12 Nov 2018
    I work for south Lanarkshire I visit schools voluntarily teaching water safety first aid CPR IF you want info or help please contact me
  34. Catherine Buxton 12 Nov 2018
    Crying out to be done
  35. Kevin Millar 13 Nov 2018
    It is an essential life skill to have.
  36. Alison Clark 13 Nov 2018
    Not everyone will use language BUT everyone will need fitst aid at some point.
  37. David Calder 13 Nov 2018
    Great Idea!
    Has this web-page been linked to local school intranets?
  38. Kenneth Urquhart 13 Nov 2018
    Certainly. Children love taking responsibility and solving problems, especially doing so for adults. And goodness knows adults are very good at creating problems.
  39. Irene Climie 14 Nov 2018
    I have been training oiur Scout Group,which includes Beavers from age 6. ALL have enjoyed this and managed it. Should be compulsory in all schools.
  40. Lisa Duffin 15 Nov 2018
    Giving kids basic first aid in school could give someone the best chance to survive And save kids from more truma not knowing what to do in that situation
  41. Lyndsey baxter 15 Nov 2018
    a family member is petitioning to parliament that First Aid should be taught in all primary school kids , due to family health issues they have been taught First Aid and also knows CPR .
    I definitely agree that this should be made compulsory
  42. Janet Young 15 Nov 2018
    This should be compulsory in all schools
  43. Tricia Tait 16 Nov 2018
    Yes it should be
  44. Audrey hall 17 Nov 2018
    This training should be mandatory for all school teachers
  45. John hall 23 Nov 2018
    Of course they all should
  46. Josephine campbell 23 Nov 2018
    Well done u must be so proud and hope ur well now xx
  47. Alexander Neil 28 Nov 2018
    makes common sense to do this
  48. Mrs. Catherine McBride 28 Nov 2018
    All children should be first aid aware
  49. Jean James 29 Nov 2018
    I think this would be of benefit to all of us
  50. Andrew Hynd 30 Nov 2018
    This ultimately can only be a good thing, think of the many lives that could be saved in the future.