Mini First Aid South East London & Dartford

26/11/2025

We’re up to date with the new Resuscitation Council UK guidelines

The Resuscitation Council UK has released updates to paediatric and infant life-support guidance, and we want you to know that Mini First Aid is already on it. We’re rolling out team training and updating our lesson plans to make sure everything we teach reflects the very latest evidence.

If you’ve trained with us before or gained a workplace qualification with us, don’t worry, the qualification remains valid, and the skills you learned are still safe and effective. First aid evolves as new research emerges, and these updates simply offer techniques that may help rescuers deliver even better-quality care.

Here are some of the key changes:

Baby CPR: The preferred method for infants under 1 is now a two-thumb encircling technique. This can help you achieve consistent, effective chest compression depth with less finger fatigue. Other methods (one-hand or two-hand) can still be used if age-appropriate and needed.

Choking in infants: Still start with 5 back blows. If that doesn’t work, follow with 5 chest compressions using the encircling technique, which replaces the older two-finger approach.

Using an AED:
• Use paediatric mode for infants and children under 25 kg (approx. under age 8 ).
• If there’s no paediatric setting, use adult mode, don’t delay.
• Pad placement guidance has been refined for clarity and effectiveness.

These improvements aim to make life-saving actions even more effective across all ages.

We’ll keep you updated as we roll out these updates in our classes. As always, our mission is to make sure you feel confident, informed, and ready to help when it matters most.

This new technique will be in our classes soon, so if you would like to refresh or need to learn first aid, get in touch 💚

25/11/2025

This is a great project for anyone that can chip in and help the charity 💚

We’ve got some exciting news to share… Bexley Mencap has found a new home for our future Community Hub! 🎉

This new space will help us support even more local people with a learning disability and/or autism, as well as their families and carers. It will give us more room for activities, advice, drop-ins, social groups and so much more.

But… we need your help. ❤️

The building needs a lot of work before we can open early next year, and we’re looking for an army of amazing local tradespeople who might be able to donate a little time or skill.
We’re especially looking for:
🛠️ Plasterers
🧱 Builders
🎨 Decorators
🔧 …and anyone with practical skills who can lend a hand

If you can spare a few hours, a day, or more, you’ll be helping us create a space that will make a real difference to people in our community.

📩 To volunteer your time, please contact us:
zahra@bexleymencap.org.uk

If you can’t volunteer, you can still support the build by donating here: www.bexleymencap.org.uk/community-hub

Thank you so much to everyone who has already offered help. Together, we can build something truly special for Bexley.

10/11/2025

Are your child’s Christmas gifts dangerous?

Mums and dads, you are probably already starting to think about, or pick up, Christmas presents and stocking fillers for your child, so this is your friendly reminder to think about potential choking and other hazards that may be present in your child’s presents!

🎁 Button batteries - these little silver disc batteries are found in lots of toys and other gadgets around your house and are highly toxic. If swallowed, they can corrode your child’s throat or stomach.

🎁 Lego and other small building bricks - these are not only painful to step on, but some pieces are small enough for a baby or child to swallow, and sharp edges make them easy to get stuck in a child’s windpipe.

🎁 Magnet toys - these popular toys are small and easy to swallow. They can travel to the stomach and gather together, tearing internal tissue.

🎁 Balloons - balloons and other latex items are a choking hazard if swallowed or inhaled, which can happen easily if your child is blowing a balloon or playing with burst leftover material.

🎁 Buttons & detachable parts - toys or dolls with small parts like button eyes and wheels can be dangerous as items like this can fall off or be pulled off and swallowed.

🎁 Marbles - in the same way that grapes and round foods are a hazard, so are marbles that can easily lodge in your child’s airway.

This list is by no means exhaustive. We don’t want to be the toy/fun police, but please take a few minutes when choosing toys or gifts for your child to think about potential risks and don’t leave your child to play with a new toy on their own - check it out yourself before you hand it to your child to play with.

08/11/2025

A Saturday afternoon well spent, teaching two brothers whose parents know how important it is for all members of a family to know first aid. They are 10yrs and 8yrs, now they are full of knowledge and confidence if they were ever to come across a emergency situation 🆘

Age should never be a factor, we teach children from 3yrs to 18yrs with specialised courses to develop their first aid knowledge throughout their youth.

Kids can learn from £15 each, private classes available for family & friends. This is the same lesson plan we teach in schools.

Schools, our diary is open for 2026 - families, get in touch for weekend availability

An example with the speed for CPR with the song choose •Queen, Another one bites the dust

22/10/2025

Such sound advice from TinyTalk Bexley - Baby Signing & Toddler Talking 💚

22/10/2025

Spent today with some of the fabulous franchisees of Mini First Aid all attending our ‘Growth Hub’ session in Leeds hosted by the Head Office business Guru’s!

🧠 Was there a lot of information to take on - Yes
📝 Do I have a lot of actions to put into place - Yes
😦 Is it a little daunting - Yes
🤩 Did I have fun - Yes
❓ Was it worth it 💯

Here’s to the moving on over the next year and keeping each other in check and accountable 💚

15/10/2025

Hot drinks are the leading cause of burns to children in the UK.
Serious hot drink burns to children are up 16.4% since 2022.
These are not minor injuries. Every child in this statistic needed specialist hospital treatment for life-changing burns.
This National Burns Awareness Day, we’re supporting in highlighting the impact of burns and how so many of these injuries are preventable.
You can read Charlie’s story in our blog this week. Charlie was just 15-months old when he pulled a pan of boiling water over himself.
We chatted with Charlie’s mum, Michelle, to find out what happened that day, how Charlie’s burns were treated and how the family managed with the ongoing trauma and physical recovery.

☕