Author
Vlad Tudorie
Helen Underwood is the founder of Underwood Training, a UK-based first aid education company with a mission to make life-saving knowledge accessible to everyone, not just professionals. Her background is in physiotherapy, having worked in pediatric intensive care and acute trauma units. After burning out from the emotional and physical toll of that work, Helen transitioned into sports coaching and later discovered her calling in first aid instruction.
As a business consultant, I’ve had a front-row seat to many stories about strategy, growth, and transformation. But every so often, I hear something that shifts the conversation completely. That’s what happened when I sat down with Helen Underwood, founder of Underwood Training.
What began as a casual call quickly turned into a profound reminder: sometimes, the most important investment a business can make has nothing to do with profits and everything to do with people.
The life-saving power of basic training
Helen’s path to first aid training began in pediatric intensive care. Burnout and health issues led her away from hospital wards, but not from her calling.
“One of the things I’m really aware of is when I was working in intensive care… those people who’d had some initial first aid actually did an awful lot better than those who had no assistance. It can make such a big difference in decreasing the severity of the injury and the emotional trauma.”
That insight became her mission: to equip everyday people with the skills to act fast and confidently when emergencies strike. And it’s not just theory. Her story about a friend’s newborn child needing CPR, days after she personally taught them, hit me hard.
“They gave rescue breaths to their baby. She’s now in primary school… and every now and then I just think, what if I hadn’t gone round? Would she still be here?”
That moment didn’t just change the parents – it changed Helen. And frankly, it changed me, too.
In the UK, around 80% of cardiac arrests happen at home or in public spaces, not at work. Yet many employers train only the bare minimum of staff, just enough to meet legal requirements.
“Why not offer every employee a virtual first aid course they can do in their own time? It might help them with their friends and family and communities as well, and actually, they would see that as the employer investing in them as a person.”
That’s more than a smart suggestion. It’s a challenge to rethink what workplace training can mean.
What struck me even more was Helen’s explanation of how fast and how simple intervention can be.
“In the first four minutes after collapse, the most common thing blocking the airway is the tongue. If someone simply knows how to open the airway properly, they may not even need CPR. They could start breathing again right there.”
Just knowing how to tilt a head and lift a chin can be enough to save a life.
Helen also highlighted another common confusion: the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest. A heart attack is when the blood supply to the heart is blocked, but the person may still be conscious and breathing. Cardiac arrest, however, is when the heart stops pumping blood entirely, and that’s when CPR is critical.
These aren’t just medical terms. They’re distinctions that anyone can and should understand.
Gender bias and the hesitation to help
One thing that truly surprised me in our talk was a harsh truth: women are statistically less likely to receive CPR from strangers.
“If I collapse in the high street, I’m statistically less likely to receive CPR just because I’m born as gender female. That’s a real problem.”
People freeze. They hesitate. And sometimes, that hesitation costs lives. Training doesn’t just teach techniques, it builds the confidence to act.
And that lack of confidence is a barrier in more ways than one. Many people are afraid to intervene, not out of apathy but because they don’t feel qualified. Helen sees this all the time: people choosing inaction simply because they’re afraid of getting it wrong.
The barriers to training and a way forward
Despite legal requirements for first aiders in the workplace, many companies stick to the bare minimum. Helen shared how often large companies will only train the required number of people, not seeing the opportunity to go further.
Worse still, she’s had people cancel on the morning of training because staff shortages made it “inconvenient” to attend. That lost opportunity can’t be reclaimed.
Helen suggests that instead of treating training as an obligation, companies could use flexible formats, like her virtual course for parents, and offer it to all staff as a benefit. It builds community and can have ripple effects outside of work.
During our conversation, I posed a question: What if there were tax breaks or incentives for businesses that go beyond the legal baseline?
“Even if we could start with local government, it would be something. The NHS and schools are stretched, but incentives could create change without needing massive funding.”
The idea isn’t just theoretical. Encouraging first aid knowledge through policy could reduce strain on emergency services and save lives long before help arrives.
A practical call to action for business owners
I’ve worked with companies of all sizes, and I know how often we think in terms of margins, KPIs, and compliance. But Helen’s work reminded me of something bigger:
“Because if your lives touch others, literally, right, if they don’t get that aid, they can die or suffer potentially, you know, permanent trauma. There are very few occupations that can claim that.”
In a world full of risks, mental health crises, unexpected accidents, or even just everyday slips and falls, having trained employees could be the difference between tragedy and triumph.
Conclusion
If there’s one insight that stayed with me, it’s this: first aid training isn’t just about emergencies, it’s about empowerment. Whether it’s knowing how to clear an airway in under four minutes, recognizing a poorly heart, or having the confidence to act without hesitation, these skills shift the odds when seconds matter.
Helen’s stories show us that meaningful change can start with a conversation, a course, or even a quiet moment of preparation. As business leaders, we have the opportunity and responsibility to turn compliance into care and training into transformation.
