THOUSANDS of lives could be saved if school pupils were taught first-aid, says Bury North MP David Chaytor, backing a St John Ambulance campaign to have first-aid on the National Curriculum. Forty per cent of crash victims who die before reaching hospital could be saved by first-aid at the scene.

Mr Chaytor says that only one-third of school children are taught these skills, with training at the discretion of each school.

The MP says that 40 per cent of people who die following car crashes before they reach hospital could have been saved if first-aid had been applied quickly enough.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.