First Aid awareness | St John Ambulance launches 'Lifesavers at Work' awards to inspire more staff to learn first aid

A nationwide hunt is under way for the UK’s most inspirational workplace heroes; people who have used first aid skills to save a life, or support someone in a medical emergency, while at work.

The Lifesavers at Work awards, launched by St John Ambulance, come as new research commissioned by England’s leading first aid charity lays bare the scale of workplace first aid preparedness across the UK. 

More than one in four (29%) of UK workers have needed first aid treatment in the workplace, while a further 45% have witnessed a colleague experience a medical emergency. Yet when these situations arise, most people do not know how to treat the patient.

Just two in five (40%) workers witnessing a medical emergency were able to administer first aid themselves, with 45% resolving to help in other ways such as calling for assistance. Tragically, in some cases (3.8%), nobody at the scene feels equipped to do anything at all.