PARENTS in and around Farnham are being urged to attend an infant first aid class after new research showed only a third (32 per cent) in the region would know what to do if their baby stopped breathing.

St John Ambulance is running a three-hour baby first aid course in the town next month as part of its latest life saving campaign Nursery Rhymes Inc – a new video starring nursery rhyme characters, which demonstrates how to give Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to a baby that is unconscious and not breathing.

The Farnham course runs from 9.30am to 12.30pm on Saturday, February 27, at the St John Ambulance training venue in The Hart, Farnham. It costs £30 and covers key first aid emergencies for babies and toddlers, as well as how to give CPR.

Research, commissioned by St John Ambulance, found three out of four mums and dads in the South East said this first aid emergency scared them the most, when given a list of potential dangers that included febrile convulsions, severe allergic reactions and severe bleeding.

While nearly two-thirds said they had learnt first aid – most from a workplace course – only one in three knew how to treat babies.

CPR for babies is different from adult CPR, in that only two fingers should be used to give pumps to the baby’s chest and its nose and mouth must be covered by the rescuer’s mouth to give life saving puffs.

Last year, St John Ambulance ran an award-winning campaign, The Chokeables, to teach parents how to save a child from choking, which led directly to the saving of 46 children.

Sue Killen, CEO at St John Ambulance, said: “The Chokeables was a real step forward for us and the response was amazing.

“We’ve listened to parents and we know that they want to learn first aid skills in a way that’s easy and memorable. That’s what inspired the creation of Nursery Rhymes Inc.

“We know that a major barrier to parents learning is that baby CPR frightens them, so we’ve removed the fear factor and made it as reassuring as possible by making this new video and putting on a set of courses.

“As well as learning the technique themselves, we’re asking everyone to share the video so that all parents, grandparents and carers know what to do in those crucial minutes after a baby has stopped breathing.”

St John Ambulance also runs three-hour Emergency First Aid All Ages courses throughout the year, which include baby first aid.

To watch the Nursery Rhymes Inc video and to book on a course, visit www.sja.org.uk/NurseryRhymesInc or call 0303 003 0101.