'Save a Life September' with St John Ambulance’s

Save a Life September, St John Ambulance’s annual campaign to encourage more people to learn simple first aid skills, is now under way. This year, the organisation ia putting the power of first aid into more people's hands by making life-saving knowledge easier to access in communities across Greater London. 

A survey they commissioned this summer found that 41% of people in Greater London do not recognise that choking can become life-threatening within minutes without first aid. It also found that only a third of respondents say they know how to stop someone choking by giving back blows, 32% know how to give an abdominal thrust, formerly called the Heimlich manoeuvre, and 37% have choked to the point of panic because they felt they could not breathe. 

Throughout September, St John Ambulance volunteers will deliver free first aid demonstrations in public locations and at St John buildings, helping people learn what to do if someone is choking, as well as how to respond to cardiac arrest and severe bleeding. And for anyone unable to attend an in-person event, we have a full range of free first aid videos and guidance on the St Johm’s website. 

You can search for Save a Life September on the St John Ambulance website (sja.org.uk) to look for free volunteer-delivered first aid demonstration. (The neartest to Harringay look to be in Leytonstone and Barnet.)

If there are no sessions running you can attend, community groups are able to request their own volunteer lead session. Learning a few simple skills could help someone act when it matters most.