BLACK cabbies will be given life-saving first-aid training to deal with acid and terror attacks.
Thousands of London taxi drivers will be taught life-saving techniques such as CPR and how to use a defibrillator as part of the Knowledge.
The scheme – launched by mytaxi – comes after it was revealed 71 per cent of cabbies have made emergency trips to hospital for passengers with serious medical issues like broken ankles or even strokes.
One driver had to deal with a passenger who was shot in the stomach, and another picked up a young female passenger whose drink had been spiked with a ‘date-rape’ drug.
And dozens of cabbies admitted they’d had to give birth to a child in the back of their taxi.
Nearly a quarter of taxi drivers have come to the aid of the public in a terrorist attack, too.
A driver who witnessed the London Bridge terrorist attack took three girls to safety who had been in the Wheatsheaf pub at the time – and then went back to help others.
St John Ambulance will give first aid training with former head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, Chris Phillips, advising on security training.
A psychologist will also provide body language training, so drivers can put passengers more at ease by reading situations and recognising cues.
Andy Batty, UK General Manager at mytaxi black cab app said: “The Knowledge+ will build on the world’s most respected taxi training course by equipping thousands of London black cab drivers with a series of essential new skills.
“The initiative will have input from health, crisis and body language experts with the ambition of becoming an industry benchmark for training excellence.”
Former head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, Chris Phillips, said: “Threats to the nation’s capital are changing at an unprecedented pace.
“You can pretty much guarantee that whatever incident happens in London, a black cab will be at the scene or nearby. Professionalising their response is a brilliant way to help keep Londoners safe.”
Check our website for upcoming first aid training courses in Canberra. www.canberrafirstaid.com