‘Opportunity to generate a generation' with first aid skills

The public inquiry into the Manchester Arena bombing has heard how material is being developed and used to convey the message of ‘run, hide, tell and, when it's safe to do so, treat'.

Brigadier Timothy Hodgetts, chair of trustees at the charity Citizen AID, gave evidence to the inquiry and said that there wasn't yet enough people who would know how to treat a serious 'blast or ballistic' injury after a terror attack.

The charity, which offers first aid training and an array of other life-saving advice, techniques and equipment, has a 'focused mission' to prepare individuals, communities and organisations to help themselves and each other in the event of a 'deliberate' attack.

Brigadier Hodgetts told the inquiry how he developed a plan on how to deal with mass casualties in the event of a major incident after an IRA hospital bombing in the early 1990s. In 2015, he said his team could see 'terrorism marching across Europe' and they believed a terror attack in the UK was inevitable.

He said that schools, colleges and universities were 'very important audiences' and that we ‘owe it to them to be prepared - so that they can be prepared not scared’.

As a result, material has been developed for primary schools that 'convey the message of run, hide, tell and, when it's safe to do so, treat'. All the stories were designed in an 'abstract' manner so as not to scare.

For example, for Key Stage One children, aged between five and seven, 'Mog is Coming' tells the story of a cat on the loose in a school of mice. or older primary school children, aged between seven and 11, the inquiry was told a series of story cards and a book called 'Lion on the Loose' focus on a circus lion entering a school 'in order to communicate these important issues'.

A trial of the material around the time of the Arena attack held in Birmingham involved 500 teachers and gained 'universally positive support’.

The inquiry heard there was now an 'opportunity to generate a generation' with first aid skills around major injuries and casualties.