Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire Assembly Member Angela Burns attended a demonstration of life-saving skills put on by the British Red Cross and members of the Cardiff Youth Council last week in the Welsh Assembly.

The event aimed to demonstrate the importance of knowing basic lifesaving skills and members of the Cardiff Youth Council acted both as patients and trainers explaining to politicians how to make the victim comfortable, slow bleeding or address choking. Statistics highlight that up to 59 per cent of prehospital deaths from injury could have been prevented with basic first aid like placing pressure on a bleed or tilting someone’s head.

Commenting following the event, Angela said: “This event was especially timely after the heroics demonstrated by Tobias Ellwood and others during the terrorist attack on Westminster. You never know when basic lifesaving skills may be needed and this demonstration has helped to remind me of the basic techniques which I could employ should they ever be needed.

“The members of the Cardiff Youth Council explained the techniques perfectly and it was encouraging to see so many young people put these skills to good use. I would love to see these skills taught more widely to ensure that as many people as possible know what to do in the case of an medical emergency. If the skills taught here help to save just one life, then the scheme will have been extremely worthwhile.”

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Angela and members of Cardiff Youth Council.