I commend Deputy Kenny on this Bill. It is practical and timely. A plethora of things go on in schools. They are really busy environments where many things happen. Medical emergencies happen at times when people are not expecting it. They happen when the trained individual is not there. They happen when it is busy, there is going to be a trip, or whatever it is in the yard. It is really important that we have as many staff as possible in our school settings who are able to support those children in an appropriate way. I have been an occupational first aider for many years. There is the Good Samaritan protection for anybody who, in good faith, is going to support somebody in a medical emergency. To be that person, you have to be very brave. Sadly, I have witnessed many medical emergencies in my time in and out of schools and other education facilities. I remember a man who came back to work after years of being off. It was his first day back at work, working as a youth worker at the time, and he sadly had a massive heart attack on his first day back. The staff in that centre had just done first aid training but were terrified of touching him and did not know what to do. I was not trained at that time, so I was on the phone to 999, as it was at the time, and I administered CPR for a very long time. Sadly, he died. He was probably already dead when I was doing the CPR. The fact is that people were nervous. They had just done their training. They had never seen this happen. Huge panic sets in. I was probably 32 weeks pregnant, so it was not that easy to administer. He was a big man. I made it my business to become very trained straight after that, as soon as I had the baby, in case that ever happened again. Thankfully, it did not, but I would be able to support whoever that is. The training needed to be constant, over the years in schools and in occupational therapy, so that we were able to do it in schools, at the after-school projects that we worked in, or in holiday time. That was important. Three years later, people might say that they remember all of it, but they do not, so the training that happens needs to be updated and practical, and it needs to be fun as well. The worst-case scenario is that someone dies when you are giving them CPR, but that is life and emergencies like that happen in all settings. It could be a seizure or allergic reaction. With the best will in the world, school principals can write letters home to parents asking them not to send things in, but allergies and reactions happen, and asthma, too. How many inhalers are forgotten? What is needed as an adult in that situation is a calm demeanour, someone who is not going to panic, someone who has appropriate training to make sure that they know what they are doing, and other people around them who are also trained and know what to do so that there is support for one another doing it. We cannot hope that the trained person is the one who is there on the day when there is a medical emergency. The more people who are trained, the better. I know when it comes to special schools and special classes that there is a whole other level of need. If nurses are involved in those special schools and special classes, that is fantastic. I am sure it must be a great relief for the staff that the medical professional is there. I commend Deputy Kenny. Well done. I hope this goes forward. I should say before I finish that it is not just children who may have emergencies, but also adults. We can all have a medical emergency at any time, if we are healthy or not or if we have a condition or not. I thank Deputy Kenny. Congratulations.
Sentiment score: 0.14