Do you have first aid cover in your workplace and if so would your first Aiders have the skills and equipment to make a tangible difference in the event of an emergency? We are often asked by businesses how many staff we must train to provide sufficient first aid cover. The important factor should be to properly assess the risks as this will help to determine how many, what skills are needed and what equipment they need access to.

In terms of skills this will likely differ in some workplaces; for instances where working with hazardous chemicals. What doesn’t change though is that most if not all businesses will have people and people can become unwell in the workplace. This is where our question comes from; are you ready to save a life?

Did you know there were approximately 60,000 cardiac arrests in the UK last year and much the same every year? Some of these will occur at work and dependent upon how quickly the person gets help will determine whether they survive. It is well known that getting help in the first few minutes of someone having a cardiac arrest can increase survival rates by as much as 75%.

We read a study a year or so ago that was undertaken in the USA which identified that around 80% of those that died in workplace cardiac arrest cases in the research period could have been saved if a defibrillator had been available. So what resources does your business have; do you have suitably trained first aid persons and do they have access to life saving equipment?

It’s said that around half of larger businesses have a defibrillator in the workplace; based upon this London Ambulance Service is currently running a campaign to get businesses to think seriously about increasing this percentage. It’s better to be prepared than question why you didn’t if someone has a cardiac arrest and does not survive.