The laudable bid to make first aid a compulsory school subject

We lend the Compulsory Emergency First Aid Education Bill our support, and urge critics to re-examine their motivations

More than 30,000 cardiac arrests happen each year outside of hospital, but 62 per cent of people would not know how to help (PA)

One of the most useful skills a citizen can learn is how to save the life of another. How to give CPR, stop someone from bleeding to death or assist if a person begins to choke are simple lessons which can, quite literally, be a matter of life or death in a medical emergency. Yet, for reasons unexplained, these life skills are still taught to young people primarily through social groups – swimming clubs, Scouts and Guides troops, and so on – and not as part of the basic school curriculum.

MPs who want to change this, by requiring schools to provide compulsory training in basic first aid, are making no bold attempt to overhaul education policy. They merely see a sensible opportunity to ensure that all young people are taught both to care for one another in times of crisis, and the simple ways in which they can meaningfully do so.

And yet, despite the best of intentions, the proposal is at risk of being thrown out by hardliners who object to any further meddling in the school curriculum – even if the addition is unobtrusive and, by all measures, frankly incredibly useful. More than that, they are playing politics against the will of the electorate. The idea has popular support: more than 12,000 people have written to their MPs asking them to support the Bill, known as the Compulsory Emergency First Aid Education Bill.

Supporters say critics are preparing to “talk out” the Private Member’s Bill, which would enact the change, when it reaches the House of Commons. If they do so, they will have ignored the advice of such ardent politicos as St John’s Ambulance, which confirms that just a few hours’ training could save numerous lives. There is no reason to object to the Bill – apart from the compelling urge to win an argument for its own sake, the scourge of Westminster politics. We lend it our support, and urge critics to re-examine their motivations.