A MAN has been praised for putting his first aid skills into practice just weeks after training to help a woman suffering an epileptic seizure on a bus.

Ian Watt, an unemployed construction worker of Birtley, near Chester-le-Street, attended an emergency first aid training course with St John Ambulance at St James’ Park in Newcastle.

Later, when a fellow passenger appealed for a first aider after a woman in her early sixties collapsed at the back of the bus, he immediately stepped up to help.

Mr Watt said: “I checked that the lady was breathing as her lips were a grey-blue colour and realised that she was suffering from a seizure.

“I made space around her and with the help of a young lady passenger asked the driver to stop the bus and invited the other passengers to exit while we treated her.

“I moved potentially dangerous items away from her, removed her neck scarf, protected her head and placed her in the recovery position. I talked to her and tried to reassure her whilst we waited for an ambulance to arrive.”

Mr Watt continued to monitor the patient’s breathing, pulse and level of responsiveness and when the seizure stopped after about three minutes established she suffered from epilepsy. He stayed with her for more than an hour and then handed her to an ambulance crew.

Mr Watt said: “Little did I know how important learning first aid would be. It’s so simple to learn and can save lives.”

The first aid course was part of a Newcastle United Foundation programme United for Employment, created to get people back into the workplace.