St John Ambulance has launched a campaign to share online spiking first aid advice ahead of the season’s festivities – after new research revealed nearly a quarter of Gen Z and Millennials said they had been spiked.

Switch on to Spiking aims to increase the number of young people who can respond to life-threatening situations on a night out to 50,000.

St John has been teaching ‘street first aid’ skills to 11 to 25-year-olds in an innovative programme called Young Responders for nearly two years. In a safe and informal environment, participants learn how to respond to spiking, stabbing and other incidents.

The research, of 2,000 people across the UK, found 23% of 18 to 43-year-olds said they had ‘definitely’ been spiked. This figure rises to 41% when those who believed they had “possibly” been spiked is added.

The numbers halve among Gen X, aged 43 to 59, of which 11% said they had ‘definitely” been spiked and 21% when those that had “possibly” been spiked is included.

The research also indicated that the region with the biggest proportion of spiking victims of any age was Greater London, where 21% said they’d been spiked. This was followed by the Northeast, with 18% saying this and Yorkshire and the West Midlands, were joint third, with 14% saying they had definitely been spiked.

Throughout December, St John is urging people to learn the symptoms and first aid for spiking – including how to put someone in the recovery position if they become unconscious. Its research revealed a quarter, 24%, of people would fail to recognise symptoms and less than a third, 29%, knew what first aid to give victims.

Medical director Dr Lynn Thomas said: “Our latest research shows this awful crime continues to blight people’s social lives when they are simply wanting to go out and enjoy time together.

“While we fully support all efforts to prevent and prosecute spiking incidents, St John aims to teach people how to care for one another when the worst happens.

Recognising the symptoms of spiking is a critical first step in that care and will help protect victims from further harm. Staying with a spiking victim, monitoring them and being ready to give first aid could save their life.

“We’re urging people to equip themselves with that knowledge.”

Visit Switch on to Spiking to learn more.

*Our research was conducted by Censuswide, among a UK nationally representative sample 2,000 people aged 18+. The data was collected between 15-11-24 and 18-11-24.