Thursday 26 August 2024: Myleene Klass visited a North London school to help teach students the first aid for life threatening situations in support of St John Ambulance’s Save a Life September campaign.

The musician, broadcaster and mum of three took part in a session with sixth formers and showed them how to respond to a severe bleed incident, such as a knife attack, as well as choking and cardiac arrests.

This month, the campaign by the charity has already taught 50,000 people these and other life-saving skills through demonstrations, first aid guide giveaways and online advice.

How to deal with severe bleeds is a particular focus as recent research by St John Ambulance showed 66% of people in England wanted to learn this vital first aid due to the rise in knife crime.

St John’s research also found that nearly half (49%) of the Greater London population had experienced a severe bleed incident in some way, either as a first aider (22%), casualty (15%) or bystander (12%). This compared to nearly three in 10 (28%) nationally.

Yet it revealed four in 10 people (38%), both in the capital and nationally, would not know what to do if they came across someone bleeding out in the street.

More than half of Greater Londoners, 51%, (33% nationally) believed incorrectly that you should never cover an open wound with worn clothes to stem a bleed – despite this sometimes being the only option to save someone’s life.

Myleene, a St John ambassador, said: “We’re all aware of the terrible stabbings taking place in our cities, with Government figures showing the number of teenagers being admitted to hospital with knife wounds has gone up by nearly 50% in the last decade.

“Although we must work to stop young people carrying knives in the first place, as a mum of teenagers myself, it’s also important to empower them with the skills to respond to a stabbing if it happens.

“First aid absolutely saves lives which is why I’m fully behind St John Ambulance’s Save a Life September campaign.”

St John Ambulance head of community education, Carl Makins said: “We appreciate Myleene taking time out of her busy schedule to encourage kids to learn first aid to save more lives.

“The ‘street first aid’ theme is very topical and resonated with the students, who engaged enthusiastically with the session.

“While we hope these young people never find themselves in a life or death situation, it’s always best to be prepared. These are skills for life.”

For more information about Save a Life September demonstrations and guides, people can visit https://bit.ly/savelifeseptember