http://www.stayingalive.training/

Staying Alive, 29 Balmoral Close, Stevenage (2026)

08/10/2026

If a chemical splashes into somebody’s eye, the first few seconds matter.

Cleaning products, dishwasher chemicals, bleach, laboratory substances and workplace chemicals can all cause serious eye injuries.

Act immediately:
💧 Start rinsing the eye with clean water
💧 Continue for at least 20 minutes
💧 Hold the eyelids open if possible
💧 Allow the water to flow away from the unaffected eye
💧 Remove a contact lens if it comes away easily
💧 Ask someone else to call for urgent medical help
💧 Keep rinsing while waiting for help

Do not:
❌ Rub the eye
❌ Add another chemical to “neutralise” it
❌ Delay rinsing while searching for special equipment
❌ Attempt to remove anything that has pierced the eye

If possible, take the chemical container or product information with you, as this may help medical professionals identify the correct treatment.

On World Sight Day, check whether your home or workplace has immediate access to clean running water and whether people know what to do.

Twenty minutes can feel like a long time. For a chemical eye injury, it is time well spent.

07/10/2026

A child does not need to be knocked unconscious to have concussion.

With football, rugby and other autumn sports in full swing, parents, coaches and schools should know the less dramatic signs too:
• Headache
• Dizziness or balance problems
• Nausea
• Confusion
• Unusual irritability
• Difficulty remembering what happened
• Appearing dazed or responding slowly
• Sensitivity to light or noise

If concussion is suspected:
1. Stop them playing immediately
2. Do not allow them to return that day
3. Keep them supervised
4. Arrange appropriate medical assessment
5. Follow a gradual return to school, activity and sport

Call 999 for serious warning signs such as loss of consciousness without recovery, increasing difficulty staying awake, a seizure, weakness or numbness, severe deterioration or abnormal breathing.

Do not rely on the child saying, “I’m fine.” They may want to continue playing or may not recognise that something is wrong.

The safest rule is the easiest one to remember:
If in doubt, sit them out.

Please share this with a parent, coach, teacher or sports club.

05/10/2026

Could everybody in your workplace follow your emergency instructions under pressure?

This Dyslexia Awareness Week, it is worth remembering that first-aid information must be accessible before it can be useful.

Dense handbooks, crowded slides and complicated written instructions may create unnecessary barriers. During an emergency, even people who usually process written information confidently can struggle.

More accessible first-aid communication can include:

✅ Short, clearly ordered steps
✅ Plain language
✅ Demonstrations followed by practice
✅ Diagrams and visual prompts
✅ Strong colour contrast and readable fonts
✅ Time to revisit and repeat practical skills
✅ Instructions available in more than one format

Dyslexia does not reflect somebody’s intelligence, judgement or ability to become an excellent first aider.

Training should help people understand what to do, practise it and develop the confidence to act. It should not become a test of how quickly they can read a crowded page.

At Staying Alive, we believe good first-aid training should work for the learners in the room.

This week, look at your emergency notices and training materials. Are they genuinely easy to understand?

24/09/2026

As thousands of students begin university and take part in Freshers’ Week, there is one piece of first-aid knowledge every friendship group should have:

Know when someone has not simply “had too much”, but may have alcohol poisoning.

Warning signs can include:

• Confusion or being unable to coordinate movement
• Vomiting repeatedly
• Pale or blue-tinged skin
• Slow, irregular or noisy breathing
• A seizure
• Becoming unresponsive or difficult to wake
• Losing consciousness

If you suspect alcohol poisoning, call 999. Do not assume the person can simply “sleep it off”. Alcohol levels can continue rising after someone stops drinking, and an unconscious person could choke on vomit.

While waiting for help:

• Stay with them and monitor their breathing
• If they are unresponsive but breathing, place them on their side to protect their airway
• Keep them warm
• Be ready to begin CPR if they stop breathing normally
• Tell the ambulance service what they may have consumed

Do not give them coffee, put them in a cold shower, make them walk around or encourage further vomiting.

It is also important to tell the emergency services if drugs or medication may have been taken. This information could affect their treatment. The priority is protecting life, not avoiding embarrassment or getting someone into trouble.

Freshers’ Week should be memorable for the right reasons. Look after your friends, agree how everyone will get home and never leave someone who appears seriously unwell.

Parents, universities, student accommodation teams and hospitality venues, please share this with the young people in your lives.

23/09/2026

A powerful change in patient safety has been announced this week.

Martha’s Rule is being extended to every A&E department in England, following its introduction across inpatient wards, maternity and neonatal services.

The rule gives patients, relatives and NHS staff a formal route to request an urgent review when they believe someone’s condition is deteriorating and their concerns are not being heard. The A&E rollout will be phased, so patients should look for information within the hospital or ask staff whether the service is available locally.

There is an important message here for all of us:

If someone’s condition is getting worse, keep speaking up.

Changes that should never be dismissed include:
• New confusion or difficulty communicating
• Becoming unusually drowsy or difficult to wake
• Fast, laboured or unusual breathing
• Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue
• A non-fading rash
• A seizure
• A rapid and concerning change in the person’s overall condition

These can be warning signs of serious illness, including sepsis. If someone appears critically unwell, call 999. If you are worried about an infection but it does not appear immediately life-threatening, contact NHS 111 for advice.

First aid is not about making a diagnosis. It is about recognising danger, responding appropriately and continuing to communicate what you have seen.

You know what is normal for your child, relative, colleague or friend. If something feels seriously wrong, explain clearly what has changed and when it changed.

Being politely persistent could help someone receive the urgent assessment they need.

Please share this post. It could give someone the confidence to speak up at a critical moment.

03/09/2026

This September marks an important change in allergy safety at school.

As children return, England’s new statutory guidance means allergy preparedness must be built into the whole school, rather than depending on one knowledgeable member of staff being nearby.

Schools should now have:

✅ A published allergy-safety policy

✅ Allergy-safety training for all staff

✅ Appropriate Individual Healthcare Plans

✅ Accessible emergency medication

✅ Clear records of training and medication

✅ A process for learning from incidents and near misses

But compliance must also work in real life.

Could a lunchtime supervisor recognise anaphylaxis? Could a teacher immediately find the correct medication? Would the response still work during PE, wraparound care or a school trip?

Possible anaphylaxis involving rapidly developing airway, breathing or circulation problems requires urgent action:

• Give the adrenaline auto-injector promptly
• Call 999 and say “anaphylaxis”
• Keep the child lying down unless breathing difficulty requires them to sit with their legs extended
• Do not allow them to stand or walk
• Give a second dose after five minutes if symptoms persist and another device is available

Please share this with anyone working in a school. Preparation must reach every part of the school day.

02/09/2026

The first day back after summer can look reassuringly busy.

More people are in the building, meetings have restarted and normal routines appear to have returned.

But does your first-aid cover still work in practice?

HSE says employers should consider work patterns, holiday cover, remote and lone workers, workforce distribution and changes to workplace risks.

Try this five-minute September check:

✅ Who is trained and present today?

✅ Is cover available across every shift and location?

✅ Have any certificates expired or reached renewal time?
✅ Can everyone locate the first-aid kit and AED?

✅ Are lone, remote and travelling workers included?

✅ Have new starters been told about the arrangements?

✅ Has used or expired equipment been replaced?

An appointed person may provide limited emergency cover when a first aider is unexpectedly absent, within their role and competence. Planned annual leave does not count as an unforeseen absence.

First-aid provision should reflect the workplace you have now, not the workplace you had when the assessment was last completed.

If your arrangements need reviewing, Staying Alive can help you identify practical training options for your organisation.

01/09/2026

September often feels like pressing “go” on everything at once.

Schools reopen, workplaces become busier and diaries rapidly fill. Before the routine restarts, here is one updated piece of first-aid knowledge worth sharing:

If an adult collapses and is unresponsive, call 999 immediately.

You no longer need to confirm that they are not breathing normally before making the call. Put the phone on speaker and check their breathing while you wait for the call to be answered.

If they are not breathing normally:

✅ Begin CPR
✅ Send someone to find an AED
✅ Switch it on and follow its instructions
✅ Continue until professional help takes over, the person becomes responsive or you are physically unable to continue

Occasional gasps, slow panting or laboured breathing are not normal breathing.

You do not need to diagnose cardiac arrest. You need to recognise unresponsiveness, call for help and follow the call handler’s instructions.

Please share this. It could help someone act more quickly when every second matters.

28/08/2026

Before the bank-holiday weekend begins, find out where your nearest defibrillator is.

Then ask a second question:

Could you actually access it in an emergency?

Resuscitation Council UK’s latest guidance reinforces that anyone can use an AED. The device analyses the heart rhythm and will only advise a shock when one is needed.

If someone is unresponsive and not breathing normally:

• Call 999 immediately and put the phone on loudspeaker
• Start chest compressions in the centre of the chest
• Push hard and fast, around twice per second
• Send someone to collect an AED
• Switch it on and follow its spoken instructions
• Continue until professional help takes over or the person shows clear signs of life

Occasional gasps are not normal breathing.

If your organisation has an AED, check that:

• People know where it is
• Access is not blocked
• Pads and batteries are in date
• Clear signage is displayed
• It remains accessible when the building is closed

Knowing that an AED exists is good. Being able to find and use it without delay is far better.

27/08/2026

Is your workplace first-aid cover quietly going on holiday too?

A list of trained names does not automatically mean you have reliable cover.

HSE guidance makes an important point: an appointed person may help during an unexpected absence, within their role and competence, but planned annual leave does not count as an unforeseen absence.

Try this five-minute check today:

• Who is trained and actually present?
• Is there cover across every working shift?
• What happens during breaks, meetings or off-site work?
• Are lone, remote and travelling workers considered?
• Do employees know who to contact?
• Are certificates current?
• Are kits accessible and appropriately stocked?
• Does everyone know where the nearest AED is?

Your first-aid arrangements should reflect how the organisation operates now, not how it worked when the assessment was last written.

If changes to staffing, working patterns or risks have created gaps, review your first-aid needs assessment and arrange appropriate training.

We provide workplace first-aid training at your premises, helping reduce disruption while building genuine confidence.

Staying Alive

08/10/2026

07/10/2026

05/10/2026

24/09/2026

23/09/2026

03/09/2026

02/09/2026

01/09/2026

28/08/2026

27/08/2026

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request