The football world and many outside it were rocked recently when a 29 year old professional footballer (Christian Eriksen) collapsed on the pitch whilst suffering a cardiac arrest. It is hard enough to deal with a situation that requires first aid without having millions of people watching around the world and thousands watching in the stadium.

Due to the brilliant initial reactions of Simon Kjaer the Danish Captain, providing first aid within seconds closely followed by the medical staff and defibrillator Christian Eriksen has been able to survive to tell the tale.

Christian Eriksen is a physical specimen that is looked after by fitness coaches, dietitians and medical teams that are at the very peak of their careers. So the fact this happened to him shows that no one is immune to potential issues. Ensuring you are able to deliver first aid could be the difference between saving a life and or losing a friend or colleague.

Whilst undoubtedly having a medical team and defibrillator to hand played a huge part in this story being one of hope rather than tragedy, it cannot be underestimated the impact having someone that can immediately deliver first aid can have on someone’s chances. It can really be the difference between life and death.
Schools are excellent at ensuring they have enough first aid trained staff to protect all of the people within their organisations, however they may not always be the person that comes across the casualty first. With the vast majority of people in schools being children it is far more likely that a child will come into contact with a casualty before any adult or first aid trained member of staff.

Since Sept 2020 First Aid has been a compulsory part of the PSHE curriculum in England. The Education Space partnering with Strong Roots Training are able to offer an all new Pupil First Aid programme that helps you to deliver your First Aid curriculum with no fuss or hassle.

By Stewart Kiddell
Business Development Manager