Mini First Aid Croydon & Bromley

31/12/2025

31/12/2025

Before we say goodbye to 2025…let’s look what we achieved together.

💚 In 2025, we trained over 30,000 parents and carers, 8,000 workplace delegates and a whopping 52,000 school children in life-saving first aid.

💚 We celebrated our 10-year business birthday at an emotional conference with birthday wishes from Giovanna Fletcher, The Unmumsy Mum and Sara Davies.

💚 Our founder Kate joined a Coppafeel trek in the Brecon Beacons in memory of her lovely friend Lisa. A huge physical and emotional challenge. Kate raised over £7,000 for the breast cancer charity.

💚 We attended the Baby & Toddler Shows across the UK, providing first aid demos and expert talks to tens of thousands of new and expectant parents.

💚 We won top awards at the BFA, Best Businesswoman, and Mother & Baby Awards and entered Elite Franchising’s Top 100

💚 In the space of a few weeks, we trained our entire network and adapted our lesson plans to reflect new CPR and choking technique guidelines introduced by the Resuscitation Council UK.

💚 Our team appeared on local radio stations across the UK this year, talking about all things first aid for babies and children and our lovely Kate collaborated with the incredible Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast.

💚 Teddy instant cold pack arrived on the shelves!

💚 We joined the awesome female-founder network, Buy Women Built - so inspiring to see what women are creating, building and doing in the business and retail world and a real honour to be part of it.

💚 Our podcast surpassed 17,000 digital downloads - blown away!

💚 Most importantly of all - none of this would be possible without the work of our network across the UK and YOU! Our amazing audience and customers who chose this year to train with us, or follow us on socials, or chat to friends and family about the work that we do. Nothing is more important than spreading the word about learning how to save a life and you have helped us do this in so many ways in 2025.

Thank you 💚

24/12/2025

Merry Christmas from all of us at Mini First Aid Croydon and Bromley. We hope you all have the best Christmas. Liz, Rachelle and Millie x

08/12/2025

Every year, we warn of the dangers of using hot water bottles, in particular, using hot water bottles that are past their expiration date. This story has more information to help you decide if it's time to buy a new one!

https://westbridgfordwire.com/hot-water-bottle-expiry-warning-after-nottingham-student-suffers-severe-burns/?fbclid=IwdGRjcAOkBM9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR6APuqOfs-KC2LTFSZRPFX8UobhXJdyLMPl6Xa4DUyClgflyfKUp3HOLSHh_w_aem_PcaoejuVFQxrTJu-0z6dtg&brid=QQh_9PT9Vl9ncARCn9BhKQ

A university student has praised the quick thinking from her friends and treatment from staff at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) after she

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 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, and we'll share demonstrations on the new techniques here on our socials as soon as we have these ready.

As always, our mission is to make sure you feel confident, informed, and ready to help when it matters most 💚

Resuscitation Council UK

19/11/2025

How to ensure your baby is safe in their car seat this winter👇🏻

🚗 Do not strap your child in while they are wearing a bulky coat or sleepsuit - the material of the coat and any air trapped in it will mean that the straps are not tight enough against the baby’s body to stop them being shifted around in an accident.

🚗 Do the “pinch test” - pull the harness straps to a snug tightness which means if you try to pinch the harness horizontally you cannot pinch the material together.

🚗 Make sure the car seat harness straps are not twisted, this may distribute the weight incorrectly and cause injury.

🚗 If your child is in a rear-facing car seat, the harness straps should be in the slots at or below your child’s shoulders.

🚗 If your child is in a forward-facing car seat, the harness straps should be in the slots at or above your child’s shoulders.

For lots more advice about the law around car seats and what type of seat is right for your child’s age/weight, please take a listen to episode 24 ofthe Family Health Podcast episode in which we chat with an expert from Graco UK about car seat safety 🎧 We’ll link to this in the comments.

13/11/2025

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.

06/11/2025

RSV infections are very common. Almost all children get them at least once before they're 2 years old.

They're not usually serious, but babies under 6 months old have a higher risk of getting seriously ill as do young children who were born prematurely and babies and children with a weakened immune system, or long-term lung or heart conditions.

In babies, RSV is a common cause of bronchiolitis, a chest infection that can cause breathing problems and may need to be treated in hospital.

Symptoms of an RSV infection usually start within a few days of getting infected.

Most people only get cold-like symptoms, such as:

- runny or blocked nose
- cough
- sneezing
- tiredness
- high temperature

Babies with RSV may also be irritable and feed less than usual.

If RSV leads to a more serious infection, such as bronchiolitis, it may also cause:

- a cough that gets worse
- shortness of breath
- faster breathing or long gaps between breaths
- difficulty feeding (in babies) or loss of appetite
- noisy breathing (wheezing)

Head up to our Stories today to find out more about RSV and bronchiolitis



https://www.buzzsprout.com/2184565/episodes/16098085

05/11/2025

If you are planning on heading to a bonfire night celebration this evening, check out our top tips for staying safe 🔥 💚

https://www.minifirstaid.co.uk/blog/firework-and-sparkler-safety?fbclid=IwdGRjcAN4mLBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR6X8Dmt7LV3iLC9IwaOfMOSFAsN6GlUkRJdboeXM6xdWRmuvBy0AzdkPA5emg_aem_IUiPdacTFT8lC64MgiEwiA

Are you celebrating firework night at home this year? If so, make sure you read this blog first – it is predicted that this year 500...

31/10/2025

🌟 Hello everyone! 🌟
I just wanted to pop on and say a big hello — I know things have been a little quiet over here at Mini First Aid Croydon & Bromley. The past 12 months have been a whirlwind for our family, but after an amazing holiday in Malta, I finally feel like I’ve found my reset button! 🇲🇹✨

Over the next few days, I’ll be getting stuck into planning our 2026 class timetable, and I’m so excited to share that we’ll also be welcoming a brand-new trainer in the new year. This means even more classes and even more opportunities to support families and professionals in our community. ❤️

As many of you know, my background is in early years education, and my “day job” is as an operations manager for a small group of nurseries. I absolutely love what I do — especially when it comes to keeping little ones safe. That passion is exactly why Mini First Aid means so much to me. Having basic first aid knowledge is so important, and it’s something I truly believe everyone who cares for children should feel confident in.

I’ve been running this business for over four years now, and it has grown more than I ever imagined. My goal for next year is to reach even more parents, carers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and childcare professionals than ever before. 💚

👉 I’d love to hear from you!
⭐Are there any great venues that you can recommend for 2026?
⭐Do you know any nurseries, schools or other professionals that might need first aid training?
⭐Lastly, do you have any stories that you'd like to share about how your first aid training has helped you over the years?

Liz xx

31/10/2025

👻 Super Scary Halloween Treat Choking Hazards 👻

At Mini First Aid, we love Halloween as much as you do, but some Halloween treats like hard candy lollipops, popcorn, nuts and marshmallows are all choking risks and not recommended for toddlers and small children.

Hard lollipops and boiled sweets are a popular trick or treat gift but they can easily become detached from their stick and lodge in a child’s throat.

Nuts like peanuts/monkey nuts which are popular at Halloween are hard for small children to bite into and chew, and Popcorn with its sharp edges and kernel flakes can also be a choking hazard.

Marshmallows are sticky and hard for small children to safely chew. They can stick in a child’s windpipe and restrict their airway.

There is the added risk of your child eating these while running around, having fun trick or treating in the dark, not concentrating on chewing or eating, and you not noticing that they might be choking.

Stay safe this Halloween and keep sweet treats like this away from your small children and toddlers.

And have lots of spooky fun! 👻 🎃

20/10/2025