Andrew Turner talks about the importance of First Aid

Celebrity chef Andrew Turner is pledging his support for leading first aid charity St John Ambulance in a bid to raise awareness of the importance of life saving knowledge in the hospitality industry.

Andrew is encouraging the sector to make first aid a priority, not just as a legal tick box exercise, but as an act of responsibility to protect staff and customers.

St John Ambulance research shows that 150,000 people die every year when first aid could have given them the chance to live.

Andrew is working with the charity to show the hospitality industry how simple and effective it is to encourage large numbers of people to learn first aid, so they can be the difference between life and death.

Why is it Andrew you decided to get involved with St. John's Ambulance?

Firstly it comes from my experience as a chef, I've been cooking for 25 years and over the years I've witnessed various accidents. Then a few years ago, unfortunately someone passed away. It was at that point I realised that I had no first aid training at all, other than being in the Scouts when I was 15 years old. The first aider on duty panicked and couldn't deal with the situation, so I tried my best, but unfortunately the person didn't survive. I had a realisation then that I needed to do something about it. I immediately took a First Aid Course, and now the company that I work for, Wilton's, we've managed to collectively make sure that there are more first aiders on board then is actually required.

Why is important to have First Aid training in the hospitality industry?

The benefit of knowing First Aid is the difference between a life lost and a life saved. Too many people die from lack of First Aid and on that reason alone, it needs to stop. The more I can do to help bring awareness and to hopefully, at one point, persuade the government to make First Aid part of our National Curriculum in school. I think it's paramount

I can tell you from personal experience, that if I'd have had the knowledge, that I have today, I think I could have saved a life. That's one regret that I have to live with.

Is it a huge aspiration of yours to get First Aid put on the National Curriculum?

It's not just First Aid that I'd like to have put on there. As a chef I'm gobsmacked that we don't teach our children about food safety at home. 99 per cent of food poisoning incidences happen at home because people don't know how to store stuff in their fridge, how to reheat food or how to cook food properly. All of these things need to be addressed in education. We're taking about saving money on the National Health Service, this would be a great way to start, if they just spent some money and taught the kids from the beginning, maybe the costs wouldn't be so immense.

What sort of things would you want to teach them?

About reheating food, especially rice. How many people do you know that reheat a Chinese the following day and eat it. I can guarantee you, that doing all of the health and safety courses I would never do that in my life, nor would I give it to my children.

The chances are that is there is food bacteria in the food, potentially you could put that person in hospital. Potentially, if it's an older person, you could kill them. Potentially if it was a younger person you could kill them. Storing raw food and cooked food, again, it all comes down to wellbeing and like I said, in conjunction with First Aid, I would know the symptoms and I would know how to deal with it.

What's your favourite meal to cook?

I love fish, I love scallops, shellfish, lobster, crab, I love all of the expensive stuff. Unfortunately, I can't eat it every week, but maybe that's one of the reasons why I'm a chef because maybe I can cook that and Joe Public can't. People always say you should always try your food, you should never trust a skinny chef because that means he doesn't eat his food.

What's an easy meal that people can cook, but it's still delicious, especially for those who think that they can't cook?

I think that's a difficult question to answer, because if they can't cook it, they won't cook it. Most egg dishes are were I would suggest that people readily improve. Eggs are very versatile, there are lots of things you can do with them, from omlettes to poached to fried, bolied to baked to souffles and so on. I think most people would struggle to boil an egg but it's only about practise.

Which three products should be on any persons shopping list?

Fruit, protein and great red wine.

What's your ultimate cooking tip?

Keep it simple but do it well.

Andrew Turner is supporting first aid charity St John Ambulance in a bid to raise awareness of the importance of life saving knowledge in the restaurant industry. To find out more visit: www.sja.org.uk. For handy first aid advice, download the free St John Ambulance First Aid iPhone App from the app store.

Femalefirst Taryn Davies