Imagine if your child was choking in front of you and you didn’t know what to do.

Knowing and not knowing could literally be the difference between life and death yet, new figures reveal that more than half of parents surveyed didn’t know the correct first-aid procedure to deal with choking in children.

Choking is the third most common cause of infant death in the UK, killing an average of 24 under-fives a year.

In Yorkshire, 34 per cent of parents have witnessed their child choking, ten per cent have been in an emergency situation when they didn’t know how to help their child, 22 per cent would not know what to do if their child was choking while 47 per cent don’t know the official first aid procedure to treat a choking child.

A new edition of the First Aid Manual, endorsed and authorised by St John Ambulance, British Red Cross and St Andrew’s First Aid, includes new first aid guidelines for dealing with infant choking – one of the key changes being that an infant should now be treated sitting down on a first aider’s leg rather than along an arm.

The new guidelines, published by DK in the tenth edition of the First Aid Manual, have been completely redesigned, making it easier for readers to follow each procedure.

Overall, when it comes to first aid in general, more than half (58 per cent) of parents feel confident dealing with the basic first aid such as cuts, bruises and burns, yet 57 per cent would struggle to deliver first aid for more serious incidents, including choking.

Tim Ward joined the St John Ambulance 13 years ago and has first-hand experience of the traumas of choking.

The 41-year-old from Keighley recalls eating a burger before watching Bradford Bulls at Odsal last year. “Something got lodged and it is hard to explain but my airway totally closed,” says Tim, reliving the horrifying experience.

“There was no air going in or out. I could not gasp or cough it out and I could see the pitch was getting dark at the edges and I just saw lots of twinkling lights.”

Fortunately, Tim’s partner Jo Edwards is also a member of the St John Ambulance. The organisation brought the pair together. Tim, who runs a training company, explains how a few blows to his back from Jo managed to dislodge the burger before he became unconscious.

Through his own ordeal and his experience delivering first aid training with the organisation, Tim appreciates how invaluable the information is, and says as well as the manual, everyone can access information at the touch of a button through downloadable apps.

“I cannot stress enough how important it is,” says Tim. “A lot of people don’t realise they can download the app St John Ambulance has produced with lots of first-aid tips.”

Another tale of first aid survival is the child who saved his mum from choking.

Nine-year-old Kayne Holden, from Bingley, used the life-saving Heimlich manoeuvre he had learned on a West Yorkshire Police summer camp a few days earlier on his mum when she was unable to breathe after choking on a pea.

Unable to draw breath, Cherie Briggs looked at Kayne who began hitting her back between the shoulders to try and free whatever was blocking her airway – without success.

As Cherie, 38, began to panic, Kayne put his arms around her from behind and pulled his fist upwards into her abdomen – getting a pea to fly out and his mum to breathe again.

“I patted Mum on the back first and then I squeezed her belly twice and the pea fell out.

“If I hadn’t learned that, I wouldn’t have a mummy,” says Kayne.

Added Cherie: “It’s hard to believe a pea could do that, but it’s the way the food gets lodged. Kayne’s strength came from nowhere and when he did his manoeuvre, I thought, ‘what’s he doing?’ “I’m going on a first-aid course – everybody should, it’s so important. We may think we’d know what to do, but we might not. He saved my life.”