First Aid training for nursery staff will 'protect other children'

Two parents behind a campaign to make sure every member of staff in nurseries has adequate first aid training say making it a mandatory qualification will "protect other children".

Joanne and Dan Thompson lost their nine-month-old daughter Millie in 2012 when she choked on some mashed potato at nursery and staff were unable to save her.

Mum Joanne was shocked to find out that nurseries only need to have one person in attendance who are first aid trained.

Joanne believes if Millie had been given "continued treatment, there is a possible chance we could have brought her home that night."

She told Good Morning Britain: "Getting in more staff training is better because as Dan said, less people freeze. You don't know until you're in that situation what is going to happen to you. We're just doing this to protect other children."

Millie's Trust provides free first aid awareness courses for pregnant women; people with a child under the age of 12 months or those are struggling to find the funds to attend.

Now MPs will debate whether first aid training should be mandatory for all nursery staff thanks to a petition started by the Thompsons.

The petition gathered just under 103,000 signatures and managed to persuade MPs to consider introducing legislation.

Joanne and her husband Dan will travel with their local MP Mark Hunter to Westminster Hall, where MP Mark Hunter will present on their behalf the petition in a debate to his fellow MPs.