Although the importance of these skills are recognised throughout the wider community, research from The Australian College of Emergency Medicine shows that only one in ten community members are trained in CPR.

The research comes as a teenage girl was successfully resuscitated by a group of young footballers at a popular swimming hole in Sydney’s west recently, highlighting the effectiveness of community members knowing CPR and First Aid skills.

TAFE NSW Lithgow College’s part time teacher of Nursing and First Aid Jenny Smith said “It is essential to keep up with your First Aid because you never know when you might need to use it. First Aid has changed in recent years and CPR is now much simpler to learn with First Aiders feeling more confident at having a go. One of the recent changes is to teach the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) which proving successful in saving more lives. These Defibrillator machines are easy to use as you just follow their instructions. In the future these machines will become more common to have in community places so they will need trained first aiders to use them. I always say to our students if you don’t have a go, then this person does not have a chance at all. Take time out to learn First Aid as it could be loved ones you need to treat.”

Contact Lithgow College TAFE NSW on 6352 0444 or St John Ambulance Australia on 1300 360 455 for the your next local First Aid course.