It's good to see that a number of responders to this topic mention that they are competent in CPR and in some cases teach it to others including school pupils, etc. Though I got no first aid or safety training myself via school, I had plenty of it from age 11 through the Scouts, etc. In fact a fairly regular theme for my scout troop's meetings was for each patrol to play act a different type of emergency and then demonstrate the appropriate action to be taken, e.g. how to deal with someone suffering an electric shock and unable to let go of whatever was causing the shock, and without also becoming a casualty. p.s. A confession: despite having been on various first aid courses over the years, I can't remember when I last attended one - so I really ought to remedy this and get myself on a course soon! Also guess this applies to some other forum users.

pete48 - it looks like you may well have identified the basis of the alleged daft instruction involved in this topic. It also seems pertinent to add that the sentence “standard first aid at work training courses do not include resuscitation procedures for children.” (note in bold print) in paragraph 52 of the “Guidance on First Aid for Schools: A Good Practice Guide” is immediately followed by “The employer should arrange appropriate training for their first-aid personnel. Training organisations will often tailor courses specifically to schools' needs. It is helpful to let the training organisation know in advance of any particular areas that should be covered.” Thus, it’s possible that one or more people at the school which forms the subject of this topic have hurriedly noted the sentence in bold text and ignored the rest of the advice in paragraph 52. The link to the DfE (Government Dept for Education) guidance page you quoted included an extraneous ‘t’ in http so, for the benefit of forum users, here it is again as http://www.education.gov...staid/a0010622/first-aid Also, from a cursory internet search for first aid training, there are numerous websites about different types of courses which may be confusing to some people who are unaccustomed to the terminology. Even so, for example, at http://www.sja.org.uk/sj...s/schools-first-aid.aspx St John Ambulance offer a ‘Schools first aid’ course which “covers emergency situations common in the school environment and is therefore ideal for teachers and other school support staff” and includes “Resuscitation - as appropriate for age group” presumably of the pupil age range likely to be encountered by the school staff being trained. Though I might just be flaunting my ignorance of current standards of CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) surely it’s not too difficult for first aid courses generally to include training in how to apply CPR to whoever needs it of any age from babies to elderly adults! For example, it’s foreseeable that a parent collecting a child from school might also bring a very young child with them. If such a child were to need CPR for any reason, it would seem ludicrous for school first aiders to say they’ve been trained to give CPR to adults and children within their pupil age range but not to babies or young children.

As Mum to a munchkin under 5, I'm absolutely horrified at the thought of a teacher that has attended a workplace First Aid course (which no doubt includes some form of CPR) standing back and letting a child die because there's some "internal policy" saying they aren't allowed to help. Are they afraid of litigation should the child die or sustain internal damage from chest compressions etc? Like others have said, I think I'd rather someone "have a go" at trying to save my kid than stand back and watch them die. Also, if the teacher did attempt CPR would they then be disciplined for their actions?! Thing is, if a child were to die then the front pages would be plastered with "Health & Safety gone mad...child dies due to school's H&S policy" etc...and, as usual we'd be made the scapegoats....