"First Aid Training" Topic

Sorry if this post is out of place but I suppose it does apply to everyone working in the industry as well as everyone else on the planet.

Have a read here:

link

I am going to say well done on here…

I had a little first aid training when I was at work. enough to check airways, recovery position. etc. I was always told to phone 999 first, and to act calmly..

True story

We started giving the first year med students First Aid because there is nothing more embarrassing than saying, "that guy's a med student" and then the guy in question has no clue what to do

I had some first aid training years ago. They told me to use my pistol – it would be quicker and less painful to the person I was helping.

Yes, well worth while and gives you more confidence dealing with cuts, burns, relatives with heart failure and students getting hit by a bus after stepping into the road texting.

Reminds me to book a refesher … I'm St john's Ambulance trained but out of date ..

We always hope never to need it …

Phil

been the "you're the guy" a good many times….good message for sure, better to have and not need the skills than the other way around for sure!

Great thing to learn, I have been a first aider at my work for 14 years now, always enjoy the courses to as they are a lot of fun.

First aid/CPR skills are helpful to all, and essential to parents/coaches/teachers/clergy--anyone who regularly deals with groups of people. It teaches you what to do as well as what _not_ to do. Mrs Carp and I taught FA/CPR classes for years, and one of the lines we used was--"You will not be expected to perform brain surgery". Going through the class makes the prospect of responding to an injury situation somewhat less stressful, but remember--there's still the aspect of your own reactions to trauma, blood, victims' screaming to deal with. One of the other things we taught our students was "Once you've started treating a patient, keep going until relieved. You may have a very well-deserved nervous breakdown if you wish afterward, but please defer that until after EMS takes over."

FA/CPR are fantastic skills to have; do consider taking the time to learn them.

Just seen the 'patient', back on his feet, discharged from A&E, passed all his other tests, bitten tongue, aches and pains, suggested not to drive for 6 months, has to attend an epilepsy clinic and very grateful for whatever it was that I did.

A good ending to what might have been a 'sad' story, so come on guys and girls, get into First Aid if you haven't done so already.

Yes indeedy. Despite keeping qualified and up to date, I've hardly ever been required to use my skills. However, two cadets that I've trained have saved the lives of their own parents.

*students getting hit by a bus after stepping into the road texting*

Get a lot of near misses here in Sheffield when the students are crossing over the road from their barracks across from my place of work. Good job the hospital isn't far away!

Bravo Zulu JimDuncanUK--you never know when all those skills you learned so long ago might be needed.

Following 9/11, the powers that be finally realized that Basic First Aid's devolution to "Call 9-1-1" wasn't going to cut it in a super-mass-casualty, large-area disaster.

For those who wish a little more leeway and more detailed skills, Wilderness First Aid (not sure if it's still called that anymore) gives a lot of options and techniques when EMS is far, far away/busy with a massive terrorist attack/otherwise not available for quite some time. Or, you can always take classes (it was 125+ hours of class time and lots of practical hours in Pennsylvania 25 years ago) to become an Emergency Medical Techician.

I ran across a couple of 1942 Red Cross First Aid manuals, and I was shocked to see some equipment and procedures that _I_ learned in EMT class, like traction splints for reducing broken femurs, and other more complex and involved treatments. And a zillion and nine ways to use a triangular/cravat bandage--handy things, those! One of the best things a First Aid class does is to open the student's mind to possibilities within a situation and to be able to roll with the changes. It encourages improvisation, like using folded magazines or cardboard as a splint, folded towels or blankets to immobilize a joint, and one instance of untrained little kids on the street who encounted an ill man laying on the sidewalk who was burning up with fever --they actually sacrificed their popsicles to try to cool the poor man down: my wife was a NJ Paramedic and she found the guy covered in orange sticky goo from the popsicles. She actually encountered this in the then-slums of Atlantic City (bless their little creative and generous hearts!).

Capncarp,

I've done a 'Mountain First Aid' course designed for mountain rescue teams, which was A LOT more advanced than the standard 'First Aid At Work' (4-day) course. I imagine that it's very similar to the Wilderness First Aid course – lots of emphasis on immobilisation of injuries so that you can get them to further help/shelter.

@capncarp Echo Foxtrot