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LIVERPOOL children are being taught “urban first aid” to help friends who have been shot or stabbed.

The scheme, which has started in Kensington, could soon be rolled out across the city.

It was set up by a group of Merseyside nurses who realised youngsters did not know what to do in the wake of a shooting or stabbing.

So they qualified as British Red Cross trainers and set up a new charity to teach first aid in schools and youth clubs.

Young people are taught how to treat stab and gunshot wounds and deal with binge drinking victims.

Registered nurse Ibrahim Napson is one of seven nurses involved in the new charity.

He said: “We had all seen various degrees of violence in Kensington. The problem is that people tend to stand by and call an ambulance which can take five or 10 minutes and by that time the person is dead.

“We want to help people look at what they can do before the paramedics arrive.”

Mr Napson moved to Kensington five years ago from Ghana where he was a nurse and first aider working in a military hospital.

He now works in the casualty department at the Royal Liverpool Hospital.

Mr Napson added: “We’ve had a very positive reaction from the young people we have met.

“They are more likely to be exposed to gun and knife crime.”Some of them have told us about what it is like to see their friends with a knife or gun shot wound.

“They weren’t able to do anything until the ambulance arrived and they found that traumatic because that time can make the difference when it comes to saving someone’s life.”

Mr Napson hopes the scheme can be rolled out across Merseyside and nationwide if it is a success in Kensington.

Paramedic Steve Evans, praised the project. He who was behind the Don’t Walk Away campaign aimed at stopping young people abandoning their friends when they are drunk, said: “I think this charity is tremendous. First aid is not on the national school curriculum and we also have this prevailing attitude of people not wanting to get involved.

“We have had young people who abandon their friends because they are too scared or unable to help. Hopefully this will change that.”