According to the British Red Cross, young people need to be educated about how to cope with drunk friends who could hurt themselves or others.

A survey was published this week that involved 2,500 young people between the ages of 11 and 16. The survey found that 10 per cent of them had found themselves with a friend who was at risk because of behaviour resulting from drinking.

This includes friends who had hurt themselves or become sick while drinking, or who had lost consciousness. The Red Cross has taken the position that it’s necessary for these young people to gain skills that would enable them to respond to such an emergency.

Official British figures indicate that between 2006 and 2009, there were in excess of 7,000 hospital visits that involved alcohol and people under 15 years old.

This most recent survey shows that significant numbers of young people are drinking at a very early age. For example, 23 per cent of young people between 11 and 16 say they have gotten drunk at some point. Also, a third of kids between 14 and 16 say they drink on most weekends.

The most important thing coming out of the survey was that many young people had in fact faced some kind of emergency related to alcohol, and they did panicked or did not know how to cope.

Close to 50 per cent said they had been in a situation where their friend had vomited or remained unconscious despite attempts to revive them.

Red Cross Wants to Reach Kids Directly

The British Red Cross has created a program called “Life Live It,” where they help young people to learn how to cope with keeping a friend from choking on their own vomit. It will also teach them how to resuscitate someone.

The program will attempt to reach children directly by posting instructional videos on You Tube and other training methods on the Internet. Trainers from the Red Cross will also go into schools and supply teachers with first-aid kits.

Drinkware, a British charity, has taken the position that the survey backs up the need for young people to learn more about the abuse of alcohol and how to cope with it.

The program also has other goals. These include teaching children how to cope with someone having an asthma attack, choking, suffering a head injury, or having an epileptic seizure.

Last year, there was a government program that cracked down on alcohol abuse among teens. The result was the confiscation of more than 5,000 litres of alcohol. And about 3,500 teens were stopped, and their parents were informed of their drinking.

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