Despite our best intentions, accidents do happen so it pays to know what to do if you need to provide first aid care. Attending a first aid course could save your child’s life. We caught up with a St John educator as she shared her advice with a group of mums.

Top 10 Tips

1. CPR helps keep the blood circulating to all cells of the body and helps to keep your child alive until help arrives.

2. If your baby isn’t breathing, dial 111 and start CPR. Lie your baby on a flat, hard surface, such as a table and, using two fingers, push down 30 times on their chest.

3. You’re aiming to compress one-third to half of the chest.

4. Follow this by two breaths covering the mouth and nose, with emphasis on the nose.

5. With infants and small children, use the heel of your hand for compressions instead of your two fingers. Again it’s 30 compressions followed by two breaths.

6. Remember: “30 to two, no matter who”.

7. BURNS – Hold the burn site under cold running water for 20 minutes then cover it with cling film. Stay with your child at all times and seek medical advice if necessary.

8. If the burn is larger than the palm of your child’s hand, dial 111.

9. For bad cuts, apply pressure, elevate and bandage, then call 111.

10. Remember: small children don’t have to lose a lot of blood for it to be an emergency.

Be informed and trained to ensure that you do the right thing when your child needs you, check out St Johns to find a course near you:

https://www.stjohn.org.nz/first-aid/first-aid-course-information/