I am writing to you, in my capacity as a Fire Captain and Principal First Aid Instructor of Fire & Rescue New Zealand to congratulate you Emma on bringing this issue before the public of New Zealand and to offer my organisations support to help you achieve your vision to make compulsory Resuscitation and First Aid skills taught in all schools.

Wouldn’t it be great if Resuscitation and basic First Aid was taught to all students in primary and secondary schools! Imparting children with this knowledge could mean the difference between life and death. I agree that there is a place for local choice in the delivery of Resuscitation and First Aid skills training, but the requirement should be mandatory.

Leaving the teaching of Resuscitation and First Aid skills to the discretion of local schools isn’t good enough.  All primary and secondary school children should be equipped with the skills to save the lives of the ones they love in the event of an emergency, not just those children who are lucky enough to have a head teacher that chooses to teach it.

The Government must show leadership and mandate Resuscitation and First Aid skills as a core part of the curriculum in all primary and secondary schools across New Zealand.

#22: Pyro Kiwi -  

Totally agree, and well done Emma. The UK Resuscitation Council are currently trying to get legislation passed so that CPR (not first aid) must be taught in all schools. Whilst having everyone trained in first aid is a great goal, perhaps a more achievable one is to get CPR in (a foot in the door so to speak) and then see if it can be extended to first aid? I'm sure the New Zealand Resuscitation Council would be interested in hearing about and publicising your petition. You should contact them: www.nzrc.org.nz