A young Taysider is hoping to use his first aid skills to fuel his career in the ambulance service.
David Cook, 18, joined the St Andrew’s First Aid team in Arbroath to help teach the lifesaving techniques to youngsters across Angus.
His passion for first aid has led him to become an integral part of the Arbroath group.
He helps train the Thistle’s and Cadets skills such as CPR, defibrillator use, and correctly making emergency calls.
But lifesaving is an important part of David’s day-to-day life, as he hopes joining the organisation will be a good stepping stone towards his career as a paramedic.
He said: “I saw a post on Facebook recruiting and I had done first aid a lot in the army cadets and it was something I’d loved doing.
“It’s also something I want to do for a job so I thought I would sign up.”
As well as teaching youngsters, David also finds himself out on the frontline treating people’s injuries at events across Tayside.
He helps treat injuries at weekend events such as football games, theatres and children’s rugby matches in Dundee.
David’s skills mean he is able to treat the vast majority of injuries, regardless of severity.
While he has never had to use CPR while on the field, he has treated a variety of minor and serious injuries, such as breaks, spinal injuries and angina attacks.
These injuries could turn out to be more serious if first aiders were not on the scene, which is David is supporting The Courier’s campaign to teach first aid to every school pupil in Scotland.
He added: “I didn’t get first aid training when I was at school but it’s a really valuable skill to have.
“Being young it’s easy to hurt yourself, or your friends could hurt themselves and it’s easier to learn from a younger age.
“It’s such an important thing to know through all aspects of life.”
