St John Ambulance Victoria calls for first aid training in all schools

Tahnee Taylor-Pike’s brave actions to help her dad after his angle grinder “exploded” reflect a growing need for first aid training in all schools.

Tahnee Taylor-Pike, 12 – pictured with mum Kelly Pike and dad Dan Taylor – came to the rescue when Mr Taylor suffered two major cuts on his leg while grinding in the garage. Picture: Mark Stewart

First aid training should be rolled out across all Victorian schools so more children are ready to become lifesavers like Tahnee Taylor-Pike, St John’s Ambulance Victoria believes.

A decade after launching its First Aid in Schools program, St John’s Ambulance Victoria is calling for CPR training in secondary schools to overcome a slump in first aid training and an increased need due to strains on the state’s health system.

Having already taught lifesaving skills to more than 1.2 million primary school children in the past 10 years, St John’s Chief Executive Officer Gordon Botwright said a state government-backed expansion into secondary schools could save lives and build community resilience.

For a $600,000 investment, Mr Botwright said about 20,000 students a year could become first aid qualified, most who are able to pick up the skills more easily than adults.

“A bit of funding will help us get CPR training into secondary schools where children can do it in an accredited version of the course and come away with the official skills,” he said.

“Exposing children in primary school to the initial aspects of first aid, but then continuing that, into secondary school, means there’s going to be so much more confidence in the community.

“There’s plenty of evidence we can see that when we introduce children as young as five, six and seven years old to first aid, and put it into a fun environment, how quickly they pick up.”

Tahnee Taylor-Pike was just nine years old when she saved her dad. Picture: Mark Stewart

The First Aid in Schools program has been funded in primary schools by St John as part of its charitable works since 2012.

Despite unprecedented demand on ambulance and emergency department resources, Melbourne’s overall first aid training numbers have dropped by almost half during the pandemic, underlining the importance of school-based lessons.

After being saved by his then nine-year-old daughter Tahnee, Dan Taylor is keen for all children to learn first aid skills.

In March 2020, the father and daughter were working on a project together in their Kinglake shed when an angle grinder “exploded” and sliced through his right leg in several places.

“There was blood everywhere and I can see inside my leg – and that’s about when Tahnee kicked into action, because I was no good,” Mr Taylor said.

After her father passed out Tahnee called an ambulance and listed to the call takers’ instructions, finding clean rags and then sacrificing her brand new jumper in her determination to compress the wounds.

“I had to wrap it around his leg and keep pressure on it to try and stop as much blood as possible,” she said.

“It was scary. It was not great because it was just us alone. Dad was passed out so it was just us on the phone.”

After paramedics arrived, Mr Taylor was taken to the Northern Hospital where he underwent surgery to repair his leg.

“Tahnee was a superhero,” he said.

“If she wasn’t there, I would have been in a bit more trouble because if I was on my own I wouldn’t have made it to the phone to make that call.”