Junior doctors in England who are striking on Wednesday will run free life support classes for parents as a way of using their skills during the industrial action.

There will be about 25 events up and down the country as part of an initiative called #littlelifesavers, taking place during the latest strike by junior doctors over proposed new working conditions. It is the third industrial action by junior doctors, and the first since Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, announced he was imposing new contracts.

In Tooting, south London, classes showing parents invaluable skills such as how to administer CPR and stop a child from choking will be held at the Trafalgar pub, near St George’s hospital.

Dagan Lonsdale, a registrar working in intensive care and clinical pharmacology at St George’s, said: “The idea is that junior doctors are volunteering their time on the strike days to talk to parents about life support for children. The idea is to just do something positive on the day of industrial action because junior doctors aren’t people for standing around braziers on a picket line and people feel they want to do something positive and show that this is not about striking for money.

“We really do have patients’ best interests at heart, we’re interested in pursuing our vocation, which is saving people’s lives.”

The strike will start at 8am and last for 48 hours. The dispute over pay, working hours and patient safety has become increasingly embittered and Hunt’s attempt to end the impasse by imposing the contract has been met with defiance by the British Medical Association (BMA), which is attempting to challenge the decision through judicial review.

The union, which represents 38,000 junior doctors, 98% of whom voted to strike in a November ballot, has said its members have no confidence in the new contract.

One of the key sticking points is over the removal of overtime payments for working during the day (7am to 5pm) on Saturdays.

NHS England said on Tuesday that more than 5,000 NHS non-urgent operations had been cancelled in England as a result of the latest industrial action.