By Cindi John BBC News Online community affairs reporter

Participants will help gun victims until ambulance staff arrive

Onlookers watch attentively as the shot woman's arm is bandaged.

But luckily nobody's really been hurt.

The woman being bandaged and those watching are all taking part in Manchester's first course specifically designed to train people in the south of the city help victims of gun crime.

One person there, Erykah Blackburn, wishes it had been available before her brother, Zennen, was shot and killed two years ago.

"The ambulance arrived after 20 minutes but wasn't able to actually help him until the Armed Response Unit came and the people around didn't have a clue what to do," she says.

Ms Blackburn is one of a dozen participants on the course, the first of four run by the Red Cross.

GUN CRIMES 2002/2003 London: 4,202 Greater Manchester: 1,240 West Midlands: 1,101 Source: Home Office

Firearms offences were down across the UK last year but Manchester, home to several notorious gangs, is still a gun crime hot spot.

In 2002/03 six people died in the city as a result of gun crime and it came second only to London with 1,240 recorded firearms offences.

Overall, 12% of all gun crimes committed in England and Wales happened in Manchester.

'Personal and professional'

The courses have been organised by a Manchester community group, Dash.

Support worker Lindsay Wong said Dash was primarily a drugs and sexual health advice organisation, but its base in Moss Side, where many shootings occur, meant it inevitably faced the effects of gun crime.

It's basically raising awareness to say we want to stamp out gun crime Lindsay Wong, Dash

"All our staff are from the local community and we've all lost friends or family members to gun crime and we're all very passionate about it. So it's personal and professional."

Participants on the course are not expected to replace ambulance staff, she said, just help keep shooting victims alive until police allow medical staff access to the victims.

"A few weeks ago there was an incident in south London when the ambulance couldn't get there for 45 minutes. The victim died but that's the time when a life could be saved."

'Frustrating'

The frequency of shootings, especially in areas like Moss Side and Longsight in south Manchester, means the places on the first aid courses have been snapped up.

Robert from the nearby Hulme area is a former Dash volunteer.

While he has no personal experience of the effects of gun crime, he wanted to help others who weren't so lucky, he said.

"I can imagine, for the people directly involved, it's frustrating that the police won't respond till the area's safe, so this course is a positive thing."

A poster campaign is also planned

Larry Benji, who's lived in Moss Side 20 years, shares that sentiment.

Mr Benji said he felt it was "his duty as a member of the community" to attend and learn how to help a gunshot victim.

Although not directly affected by gun crime, friends of his had been shot, he said.

As well as running first aid courses, Dash has used part of a �5,000 grant from Manchester Voluntary Council to fund a publicity campaign consisting of posters and car stickers.