Tuesday morning’s meeting featured a fascinating and thought-provoking presentation from one of our own members, Ali Pugh of AJP Training. Ali specialises in Basic Life Support, Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW), First Aid at Work (FAW) and annual refresher courses across Hampshire and beyond. She also brought along her virtual reality kit, letting members experience first-hand what it’s like to apply first aid skills in realistic scenarios.
Why CPR Skills Matter: The Statistics
Cardiac arrest is far more common than many of us realise and the outcome often depends on what happens in the first few minutes, long before an ambulance arrives.
● Every year, more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests are treated by UK ambulance services.
● Overall survival remains low, at under 1 in 10 (around 8%) once emergency services attempt resuscitation.
● When a bystander steps in with CPR and a defibrillator before paramedics arrive, survival rates can rise to around 1 in 3, and as high as 50–70% where defibrillation happens within the first 3–5 minutes.
● Every minute without CPR or defibrillation can reduce a person’s chance of survival by up to 10%.
● Despite this, surveys suggest fewer than 3 in 10 UK adults feel confident they could perform CPR in an emergency, and around 4 in 10 adults have never learned it at all.
As Ali’s presentation made clear, that confidence gap is exactly what good, practical training is designed to close.
What Does the Law Require? First Aid by Business Size
Under the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981, every UK employer – including sole traders and the self-employed – has a legal duty to provide “adequate and appropriate” first aid equipment, facilities and personnel. What counts as adequate depends on a first-aid needs assessment, but the Health and Safety Executive’s general guidance is:
● Fewer than 5 employees: at least one appointed person to take charge of first-aid arrangements.
● 5 to 50 employees: at least one first-aider trained in EFAW or FAW, depending on the risks involved.
● More than 50 employees: at least one FAW-trained first-aider for every 50 people employed (or part thereof).
First aid certificates are typically valid for three years, with an annual refresher recommended to keep skills sharp in between. Whatever your business size, the responsibility applies from day one – there is no exemption for being small.
Bringing Training to Life with Virtual Reality
One of the highlights of this morning’s session was Ali’s virtual reality headset, which she is now licensed to use as part of her courses. The VR kit drops trainees into realistic, everyday settings – a sitting room, an alleyway, a supermarket aisle – so they can practise recognising an emergency and applying their skills under pressure, in a safe and repeatable way. It’s a brilliant reminder that real emergencies rarely happen in a classroom and that confidence comes from practice, not just theory.
The Benefits of First Aid Training
For Individuals
Beyond meeting a legal requirement, first aid training gives people the confidence and calm to act decisively in a crisis, whether that’s at work, at home or out and about. With roughly 80% of cardiac arrests happening in the home, the life you help save is just as likely to be a family member’s as a colleague’s.
For Small Businesses
For small business owners, investing in first aid training isn’t just about compliance. It reduces the severity of workplace incidents, can lower staff absence and builds a stronger, more confident team who know they can look after one another and any customers or visitors on site. It’s also a straightforward, tangible way to demonstrate that you take your team’s wellbeing seriously.
Get in Touch
Ali delivers FAIB registered first aid and CPR training across Hampshire, including Eastleigh, Romsey, Winchester, Southampton and Portsmouth, training up to ten people per session at your own site. To find out more or book a course for your team, visit ajp.training.
Thank you, Ali, for such an engaging and genuinely useful session this morning.