12/09/2026
Today is World First Aid Day, and it feels like a good opportunity to reflect on why this has become such an important part of what I do.
For me, First Aid has become about so much more than teaching someone where to put their hands for CPR, how to pack a wound or when to call 999. It is about developing the knowledge, practical skills, confidence and, importantly, the competence to recognise when somebody needs help, know what to do and be able to step forward and do it should we ever need to.
I’ve spent over 22 years working in education, and although the subjects, settings and learners have changed considerably over that time, the part I’ve always loved most hasn’t. I love seeing people learn, question, practise, make connections and gradually become more confident and competent in something they perhaps felt unsure about when they first walked into the room.
First Aid brings all of that together, but with the added knowledge that what somebody learns with me could genuinely matter on one of the worst days of somebody else’s life.
Over the last 18 months, I’ve trained people in schools, hotels, police headquarters, Army Reserve centres, construction and engineering sites, council services, care settings and community organisations. I’ve worked with teachers, foster carers, hospitality teams, police officers, soldiers, volunteers, corporate businesses, nightlife economy, hospitality, parents and school children. I’ve also had opportunities to work as an Event and Site Medic and take part in realistic emergency scenarios myself, all of which continues to shape the way I teach.
One thing all of those experiences reinforce is that knowing some First Aid and feeling able and competent enough to actually use it when faced with a real person and a real emergency are not necessarily the same thing.
That is why my courses are practical. We don’t just talk about CPR, we get onto the floor and do it. We use AEDs, practise choking management, recovery positions, spinal management techniques, bandaging, wound packing and dealing with life threatening injuries. We work through realistic scenarios, discuss the things people are genuinely worried about, explore what happens when an emergency isn’t textbook perfect, and talk about the human response too. People can freeze, panic, doubt themselves or worry about getting something wrong, and I think acknowledging that is an important part of preparing someone to respond.
I also want learners to understand the why behind what they are doing. I want them asking questions, challenging things they may previously have heard and thinking through what they would do if the person in front of them was their colleague, pupil, customer, friend, partner, child or parent.
Because that is the reality of First Aid. The person who needs you probably won’t be a training manikin lying neatly in the middle of a classroom. They might collapse beside you at work. A child might start choking over lunch. Someone may become seriously unwell while you’re out together. You might come across a road traffic collision, or somebody you love might suddenly stop breathing at home.
Professional help may be on its way, but what happens in those first few minutes can really matter and you could be the difference between life and death.
For me, that is what World First Aid Day represents. It’s about recognising the value of ordinary people having the training, knowledge, skills and competence to recognise an emergency and begin helping until further support arrives.
It is also why First Aid training should never simply be viewed as another workplace tick box.
Many people will complete a First Aid qualification every three years and, thankfully, never need to use many of the skills they learn. But that doesn’t make refreshing those skills any less important. Guidance changes, best practice develops, requirements are updated and skills we haven’t practised for several years can understandably become rusty. Remaining current, practising those skills again and keeping our knowledge up to date matters when those are potentially lifesaving skills.
One of the things I’m particularly proud of is the feedback I receive from learners. I’ve watched hundreds of people grow in confidence throughout their training, and I’ve had some fantastic comments from people who have completed First Aid courses many times before but tell me how much more they understood, how much more practical experience they gained or how differently they felt about responding to an emergency afterwards. As an educator, that means a huge amount to me.
I still get enormous satisfaction from watching somebody who was nervous about doing CPR at the beginning of a course, or unsure of what to do in some situations, become the person confidently taking charge of a scenario later on. That progression is exactly why I remain so passionate about what I do, and why I’ll continue trying to make First Aid training practical, engaging, inclusive and relevant to the real world people are going back into when they leave my classroom.
You may never need to use the skills you learn on a First Aid course. I genuinely hope you don’t.
But if the day ever comes when somebody needs you, I want you to have the knowledge, skills, confidence and competence to step forward, recognise what is happening and know when and how to help.
That, to me, is the real value of First Aid. 💜
Stay safe!
