St John Training Services has been teaching more than six hundred local school children how to deal with a medical emergency as part of the annual ‘Safety Calling Challenge’.

The 10 and 11 year olds have been learning how to make a 999 call and how to do CPR on a casualty that is not breathing. The event which runs over eight days is organised by the Guernsey Accident Prevention Group and is now in its 21^st year. Other activities during the event include lessons in road safety, cycle safety, fire safety, internet safety and water safety provided by other organisations such as Guernsey Police, Guernsey Fire & Rescue Service, the British Red Cross and the Youth Commission.

Event leader and Children and Young Peoples Healthy Lifestyle Worker Tom Cheshire said “Approximately 2000 children have to visit the Emergency Department at the PEH each year as the result of an accident and many of these are preventable. The Safety Calling Challenge enables children to learn about keeping safe and how to put their knowledge into practice. It will also help children to act in helpful and responsible ways if they see someone else in difficulty.”

Working in small groups the get involved in seven different accident prevention scenarios. During four of the scenarios, children are also given the opportunity to make real 999 calls to the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre.

The St John first aid session have been facilitated by Steve Ford and Susie Gallienne and have been sponsored by the Friends of St John. The lessons aim to build on the skills that students have previously gained at primary school with St John Training Services.

Yvonne Le Page, Chair of the Guernsey Child Accident Prevention Group added “The Guernsey Child Accident Prevention Group is  delighted to be able to use St Saviour’s Community Centre again for safety Calling. I would also like to thank our sponsors Rotary Guernesiais, Skipton International and Traffic and Highway Services  whose continued support funds the centre hire and running costs. We are very grateful to Airtel-Vodafone who provided all the mobiles phones and sponsor the text messaging service and also to the many companies including Guernsey Electricity who have sponsored the activity book the children take home with them afterwards.