New statistics have shown that parents are extremely unprepared for a medical emergency.
According to research released by Baby to Toddler, one in three UK parents said they wouldn’t know how to react should their child experience a medical emergency.
And one in ten say they live in constant fear their child will seriously hurt themselves.
A lack of first aid understanding appears to be common among modern day parents.
Over three-quarters (76 percent) of parents fear their child is at risk of an accident, but only one in ten said they felt confident in how to react to such an instance.
The emergency that caused the most uncertainty among UK parents is what to do should their child eat or drink something toxic - the majority (82 percent) of new parents polled would not know how to act.
Furthermore, 60 percent wouldn’t know what to do if they found their child unresponsive and 59 percent are unaware of how to act should their baby have a fit.
Additionally, almost a third of new parents surveyed said they didn’t know what to do should their baby experience a febrile seizure.
Out of those who claimed to have a vague sense of understanding, only half surveyed identified the correct measures to take – removing objects that may injure the baby and using a blanket to protect their head from injury.
Of the parents polled who had experienced a medical emergency, the most commonly listed incident was breathing difficulties (30 percent), followed by choking (18 percent) and joint third was having a fall or an allergic reaction (17 percent).
In response to these alarming numbers, Daisy First Aid will be running a number of free 20 minute classes at both Baby to Toddler shows taking place at ExCeL London (November 17 and 18) and NEC Birmingham (November 24 and 25).
New and expectant parents can learn life-saving skills should you ever have to deal with an accident or emergency involving babies and toddlers.
No need to book in advance, just grab a seat a few minutes before they start held on the hour from 12:00pm – 3:00pm Saturday and Sunday.
Jenni Dunmna, CEO at Daisy First Aid said: “It amazing how many new parents in our classes are unaware of febrile seizures, yet according to the NHS one in 20 children between the ages of one and four will suffer from one.
“The key point to remember with febrile seizures is that whilst they can be terrifying to witness, they are relatively common. They are caused by a spike in temperature and children can recover very quickly with no long-term side effects.
“If parents are prepared with this knowledge, then it’s not quite as scary and it’s much more likely that the parent will remain calmer and treat the seizures correctly.
“Choking is also one of the biggest worries for parents, particularly when weaning or when babies start putting everything in their mouth. There are really important techniques that we highly recommend all parents learn and practise (on mannequins, not real babies).
“Learning these very simple steps could be lifesaving. It takes on average eight minutes for an ambulance to arrive in London but a child could die from choking in as little as four minutes.
"So I can’t stress how important it is to learn and practise back blows, baby chest thrusts and child abdominal thrusts.”
