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Baby First Aid: St John Ambulance
Parent life is rife with stresses and anxiety; the health of our children is a huge priority, and we spend a crazy amount of time panicking about our wee ones.
As parents, we are our children’s advocates. We protect them when they can’t protect themselves. This is why it is vital that we empower ourselves with knowledge; the knowledge to potentially save a young life. It is simply something that you will never regret learning, even if these skills never come into practice.
This guide will point you towards sources of information on baby first aid and how you can learn.
I’ll also tell you how you can claim free pocket guide sent to you further down this article…
Who are St John Ambulance & what do they do?
“St John Ambulance is the nation’s leading first aid charity.
Every year, more than 400,000 people learn how to save a life through our training programmes, including hundreds of thousands of young people.
Our volunteers provide first aid in their communities, keeping people safe at events, and working alongside the NHS in response to 999 calls. We’re also always campaigning to raise awareness of first aid and directly educate the public.” (St John Ambulance)
All in all, they’re a pretty amazing charity. You can volunteer for them, they train community first responders (civilians who respond locally whilst paramedics are on their way), they support the ambulance services especially during crisis situations such as terrorist attacks, and most importantly, they teach in the community.
By teaching in the community, they are empowering people with lifesaving skills. St John ambulance website is full of useful first aid guides, and also allows you to book on to training courses in your community, which I will explain in more depth later on in the blog.
You can visit the St John Ambulance Website here.
Here are the fab free online guides offered by St John Ambulance on their website!
New baby:
Newborns are more susceptible to respiratory arrest, meningitis, and fevers. This first aid guide specifically for newborns on the St Johns Ambulance website is a fantastic aid, and gives clear and concise instructions.
Newborn resuscitation
6 months+:
This first aid guide for babies around the age of 6 months on the St John ambulance site covers choking, croup, dislocations, allergic reactions, seizures, and foreign objects stuck in bodily orifices (what is it with kids and sticking stuff where it doesn’t belong?!).
Dealing with croup
9 months+:
This first aid guide for babies from 9 months of age onwards on the St John ambulance site gives advice on applying first aid for instances of trapped fingers, head injuries, falls, electrocution, and accidental poisoning. I’ve found this handy myself as my 9 month old is constantly getting into scrapes!
Dealing with head injuries
You can download a free guide from St John Ambulance here, in case you’d like to print a copy!
Learn baby CPR with nursery rhymes! St John Ambulance has fronted a campaign to raise awareness of baby CPR by using nursery rhymes as part of their awareness campaign!
Catchy, memorable and to the point. Please give it a watch, the principle should hopefully stick in your brain if you’re ever in a crisis situation where CPR is needed!
Apologies if you find yourself humming the tune to yourself…
Lessons and courses
As I mentioned further up, St John Ambulance offers a number of indepth training courses at many locations across the UK. You can book onto one here for £25; a reasonable price considering the importance of the skills you will be learning!
You can select the specific type of SJA course you’d like to do from the drop-down menu. The variety is pretty impressive, with courses tailored to cover baby first aid, workplace safety, and school first aid, just to name a few!
How can I get a free pocket guide?
If you visit the St John Ambulance website here, you can request a pocket guide. Please note that this is for UK residents only, and they can only send one guide per request.
It’s super handy to have a pocket guide when out and about; it can be stashed in a nappy changing bag or purse.
To conclude…
It is so bloody vital that parents learn even the basics of baby first aid. I cannot emphasise this strongly enough. Kids get up to all sorts of mischief and sadly, injuries come hand-in-hand with being a little’un.
If you can get on an SJA course, fan-bloody-tastic. If not, please read the resources and get a copy printed for emergencies.
Learning baby first aid could potentially be the best thing that you ever did!
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