'Teach teenagers how to help drunken friends' call

The British Red Cross has launched a campaign to give children first aid training after research revealed one in eight children aged 11-16 have faced an emergency caused by friends drinking too much alcohol.

The poll of 2,500 children across the UK found 13 per cent – more than 500,000 youngsters – had had to cope with a drunken friend who was sick, injured or unconscious in the previous year.

Half had to deal with someone who had passed out and a quarter were with people who were injured after becoming drunk and getting into a fight.

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Nine in 10 said they had been forced to cope in a crisis, including one in four with friends suffering an asthma attack, one in three with head injuries, one in five dealing with someone choking and one in 10 with a friend having an epileptic fit.

The Red Cross is urging schools to teach first aid to more young people.