Solihull MP pushes bill to teach pupils life-saving bleeding control skills
Proposed curriculum changes to include vital emergency response education
Pupils across the UK could soon receive vital training on how to handle serious bleeding in emergency situations, thanks to a proposed bill by Conservative MP Neil Shastri-Hurst.
The Emergency and Life-Saving Skills (Schools) Bill, set for debate in Parliament, seeks to introduce lessons on controlling life-threatening bleeds to complement existing CPR training in schools.
Dr Shastri-Hurst, former honorary consultant trauma coordinator at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, said the bill was inspired by his experiences working there:
"Looking after critically injured individuals and seeing the impact of early intervention in saving lives was a real trigger to making sure that a wider number of people in the public have these skills so that we can make sure that more people are surviving from these injuries."
The MP for Solihull West and Shirley explained that the training could drastically reduce fatalities from incidents such as stabbings and car crashes.
He emphasised the importance of equipping children with skills to make clinical decisions in emergencies.
"A catastrophic bleed from whatever cause, whether that's a knife crime incident, another violent crime, a car accident, a sporting injury, whatever - they can bleed out in 4 minutes," he said.
"And yet the average time for an ambulance to arrive in an emergency is 8 1/2 minutes.
"So there is a critical gap there, and this is about plugging that gap."
He stressed that training in the practical application of pressure and tourniquetes can help stem blood flow in emergencies.
The charity Citizen Aid, co-founded by consultant trauma surgeon Sir Keith Porter and Major General Tim Hodgetts, has trained over 1,000 pupils in a single day, showcasing the potential impact of the proposed training at scale.
Dr Shastri-Hurst expressed how inspired he was by tragic events like the Southport attacks and the Manchester Arena bombings, motivating him to push the bill forward.
If enacted, the bill would ensure that all children in schools across the UK are prepared to respond effectively to emergencies, building what the MP calls "a resilient society".
"It is such a simple fix," Dr Shastri-Hurst said. "Like CPR, if we can educate a critical mass, it’s possible we can save lives."
The MP hopes the Government will recognise the bill's life-saving potential and support its passage into law.