First Aid for Cyclists App – St John Ambulance
As some of you may know I recently took up cycling as part of my lose weight get fitter mid life crisis.
At the same time I finally fought of my natural luddism and got myself an iPhone. So I have been looking at various different apps which can help me to improve my “cycling experience” as a our friends in marketing would put it.
As regular readers will know I live in London, England which means that I have to contend with rather a lot of traffic when I’m out and about on my bike. I’m sorry to say that a lot of the traffic seems to to realise that driving laws actually apply to them. This by the way seems to apply to most sections of the traffic world. With bus drivers and cyclists being the worst. motor bike riders are far and away the best.
So of course there is a certain amount of concern on my part about accidents which may happen when I’m out on my bike. The concern grows, I might add, the closer I get to central London.
So I was really interested when I read last week that St John Ambulance, the UK’s leading first aid charity, has just produced a free app to provide first aid advice for cyclists. This followed research that shows they are nine times more likely to stop and help fellow cyclists than other road users in an accident. With three million people now cycling three times a week or more , they felt there was a need to ensure cyclists are equipped with the essential skills to help others in an emergency.
So we thought it would be useful to highlight more about this app for our readers!
St John Ambulance research found that on average, cyclists took the least amount of time to come to a cyclist’s aid, just 1 minute and 28 seconds compared to pedestrians’ 1 minute and 51 seconds. Overall cyclists have the shortest response time and respond at least three times quicker than motorists. St John Ambulance has therefore launched their campaign to build the world’s largest first aid equipped cycling community so that every cyclist knows how to help when an accident happens.
The Department for Transport announces a rise in the number of all cycling casualties, up 2% from 2012 – in comparison to the falling number of injuries/fatalities for all other road user types. The highest increase in casualties is amongst adults aged 18-59 years reporting a 5% rise. Overall killed and seriously injured figures have come down (by 10%) but slightly injured figures have risen by 3%, and this is where first aid can be the difference.
Ashley Sweetland, National Cycle Response Unit Lead at St John Ambulance said: “Our unique, free app, launching today, is a new tool specifically aimed at equipping the increasing numbers of cyclists across the country with first aid skills and should be as essential as a puncture repair kit.
“We know many cyclists have accidents on the road each year, sometimes resulting in injuries where first aid could have made a difference. As the nation’s leading first aid charity, we want to ensure that the UK’s cycling community is equipped with first aid knowledge, so that more cyclists can help where circumstances might need them.”
The app, produced by British Company Animmersion, was created using the expertise of the charity’s medically trained staff and SJA’s Cycle Response Unit, their team of highly trained first aid volunteers who use specially equipped mountain bikes, and can be first at the scene of an accident.
You can follow #SaveaCyclist for live updates from SJA and further information on the app, training and first aid advice.
The free “First Aid for Cyclists” app is available to download now on Google Play and the App Store.
You can also have a look at the SJA’s cycling site here.
If you use the app (or other cycling social media) and would like to comment on it please feel free to use the comments section below.
