Volunteers will travel to Kenya to train local communities

A Scottish first aid charity is heading to Africa to teach vital lifesaving skills.

Four volunteers from St Andrew’s First Aid will head to western Kenya in June to work with colleagues at First Aid Africa.

The project will be based in the town of Ndhiwa, Homa Bay County and the aim is to teach communities an adapted version of the first aid syllabus suited for sub-Saharan Africa, including treatment of injuries such as snake bites and utilising locally available resources.

Last year a handful of St Andrew’s First Aid volunteers went out to Africa to teach local communities first aid skills, including 20-year-old, Glasgow University student, Niall McCumesty, who will be heading back this year.

He said: "In my recent expedition to Kenya in the summer of 2014 I witnessed firsthand the immense difference empowerment in first aid skills made to communities across western Kenya.

Scotland is home to some of the best first aiders in the world. We are delighted to be joined by colleagues from St Andrew’s First Aid in Kenya this year

"Whilst there our small team trained over 2,000 Kenyans basic lifesaving skills as well as a record breaking class of 1,000 scouts in a single day.

“This summer I hope to utilise the breadth of knowledge and experience within our St Andrew's First Aid team to continue to create a new team of first aid trainers within communities to give those in the most rural areas a fighting chance in an emergency.

“We hope to spread the skills and values the organisation has given us around the world. No one should needlessly die because they needed first aid and didn't get it.”

Principal officer from First Aid Africa, Sam Abrahams, added: “Scotland is home to some of the best first aiders in the world. We are delighted to be joined by colleagues from St Andrew’s First Aid in Kenya this year.

“Volunteers across Scotland believe that access to lifesaving education should be increased in Scotland and across the world. The partnership between First Aid Africa and St Andrew’s First Aid is another important step towards that goal.”

St Andrews First Aid is covering some of the costs of the volunteers trip but further funding is required. They have set up a fundraising website at bmycharity.com/StAndrewsFirstAidAbroad.