A first aid course has been made free for parents across the country after startling new figures revealed only a quarter of parents had completed CPR training in the past 12 months.
Despite nine in 10 parents acknowledging how critical knowing first aid was, a recent survey by Royal Lifesaving Society Australia revealed a concerning gap with only 59 per cent of Australian parents completing CPR training.
In a bid to ensure more Australians know how to save the life of a child, RLSSA and Kids Alive have launched the Heart Beat Club — a free online training to teach people vital CPR and first aid knowledge for infants and toddlers.
Perth mum Krystal Karacsony knows the importance of CPR all too well after she had to save her neighbour’s 11-month-old daughter after she was found unresponsive in the bath.
After hearing screaming, she went outside to find her neighbour asking if anyone knew first aid. When she saw the baby was blue and floppy, Ms Karacsony quickly jumped into action starting CPR on the baby until she coughed up water.
The child, who is now four, went on to make a full recovery after being treated in hospital.
“Her mum didn’t have first aid training so she completely froze and panicked,” Ms Karacsony said.
“Despite knowing what I was doing it was a scary situation so to be able to fall back on the knowledge I had it made it much easier. I was just focusing on saving the baby and going through the steps of CPR in my head.
“If we had waited for an ambulance I don’t think she would have survived as those first few minutes after someone drowns are definitely the most important.”
Ms Karacsony urged other parents to learn CPR as it can be the difference between life and death for a child.
“CPR training is extremely important as you never know when you are going to find yourself in a situation like this. These things are always unexpected so knowing what to do can save a life,” she said.
In 2023, 16 children died from drowning in Australia and for every one of them eight children were hospitalised, many of which are left with lifelong impacts.
The Heart Beat Club, launched on May 1, will offer a month free access to its online training and will cover a range of topics including CPR skills and first aid essentials including how to treat common injuries, burns, and controlling bleeding.
Royal Life Saving WA manager Lauren Nimmo this would make it easier for families to learn life-saving skills.
“The Heart Beat Club makes it easy because it removes some of the common barriers such as cost and time that people claim prevents them from gaining this life saving knowledge,” she said.
Designed to be completed in just one hour people can register for a login at www.heartbeatclub.org.au