Archive

5 minute first aid for children
The British Red Cross, £6.99
ISBN:0340904615

STAR RATING: 4/5

I approached Five Minute First Aid with interest having long since forgotten what I learned on a first aid for babies' course many years ago, writes Alison Miller.

The book is aimed at parents and anybody responsible for children aged between one and eight. It does exactly what it says on the tin and gives a concise but thorough guide, over nine chapters, to what action to take when confronted with a series of the most common childhood emergencies, illnesses and accidents.

From resuscitation and choking to cuts, burns, sprains and poolside and pond accidents, each chapter is designed to be read in five minutes and to give readers the necessary skills to deal confidently with the first aid situations described.

Each chapter ends with a useful 'self tester' section that lets you test your newly-acquired knowledge. Other handy features are the 'key skills' boxes which pull out the most important techniques, together with a summary at the end of each chapter which rounds up in one or two paragraphs exactly what to do.

While no substitute for attending a first aid course, this book covers a lot of ground in bite-sized chunks that busy parents and professionals will appreciate. This is one reference book that definitely should not be filed away, but left to hand to be picked up regularly to refresh the memory on how to act in an emergency.

Alison Miller is deputy editor of 0-19 and a mother of two young boys