First Aid Course

[wanderinstar]

As we will all appreciate first aid is one of the skills we must master to become bushcrafters. I was wondering if there was any possibility of anyone in BCUK who was a first aid instructor to run a first aid course at a reduced rate to members.
Any other ideas would be most welcome.
Ian,

 

[Ed]

I don't know anyone running discounted first aid course, but i recomend doing at least the basic HSE 4 day standard course which can cost anything from £140-£400+ depending on where you do it. If you are looking for something more advanced to complement training you already have then take a look at the article here
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/content/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=134

First aid training is something everyone should do.... personaly I think it should be taught in schools.... its easy to learn and can save lives!!


Ed

 

[snake|UK|]

The best first aid course for any one who works in the wilderness or have interests in, is the Wilderness Emergency Medical Services Institute (WEMSI) this as an international qualification that all bushcraft instructors require (well, should have but most dont ).

 

[wanderinstar]

Yes thats as maybe, but I, and I should think lots of others DONT work in the bushcraft industry. All I want is the knowledge, not the qualification. I would think its the qualification that costs the money.
Ian.

 

[snake|UK|]

fair point, it is just something which i have a problem with, the outdoor industry has a verry bad first aid level

 

[steve a]

Wanderinstar, you may wish to consider a course like this one
http://www.natural-pathways.co.uk/wilderness-first-aid.htm
Hope its of some help

 

[Les Marshall]

Wonderin star, you have mentioned something that I have enquired about before.
I served for a few years as a medic in the RAuxAF, the training I had there prepared me for situations that may evolve whilst we were "out and about".

Since leaving the RAuxAF, I have tried to get a qualification that is recognised in civvi street (my RAF training is not ), however, the closest qualification I have found is that of "Advanced First aider", these courses are run by the St Johns and as far as I know are reasonably cheap. The knowledge gained should suffice for what you are asking about, and the beuty is the courses are usually run locally and over a fairly extended period, depending on how much you want out of the course.

Good luck mate.

 

[Tony]

This may interest some of you. In March there's a Bushcraft UK organised Certificated First Aid course, it's a two day course (well, Friday night to Sunday) on the 10th to the 12th of March. I'll put up more details soon.

 

[wanderinstar]

Les. Thanks mate I,ll try St Johns.

Tony. Any chance of a course up norf . Its a bit far to go for a w/end.
Ian

 

[william#]

hey chaps
im out of the country until may
but i have been teaching first aid for quite a few years and had quite a bit of experiance .
i have not run a course for almost a year now so when i return to the uk i will be wanting to run a few "warm up courses" to get myself into the swing of it all again so would be happy to run a few courses for free to help me do that - i can taylor the courses to need if you like though if you want the full four day course with certification there will be some cost involved as i will have to organise some chaps to assess the canditates at the end .
if its a case of just running through the skills and practice thats real simple as i can just turn up with the kit and run the course

 

[william#]

hey chaps
im out of the country until may
but i have been teaching first aid for quite a few years and had quite a bit of experiance .
i have not run a course for almost a year now so when i return to the uk i will be wanting to run a few "warm up courses" to get myself into the swing of it all again so would be happy to run a few courses for free to help me do that - i can taylor the courses to need if you like though if you want the full four day course with certification there will be some cost involved as i will have to organise some chaps to assess the canditates at the end .
if its a case of just running through the skills and practice thats real simple as i can just turn up with the kit and run the course

in reference to the st johns course - highly recomend them for several reasons
the first is that these guys really care about what they are doing and have a real passion for it(sometimes a bit too much , the joke being you cut your finger and you come away from a st john bandaged head to foot - but extremely neatly i might add).
the second point which is probably more important is that as the above chap mentioned its run over an extended period which allows you to really take on board the info - first aid is pretty easy when stripped down to its basics and a basic knowledge is pretty good start .
but to really learn the ins and outs you need to go over it again and again that way it becomes - in the case of such proceedures as chocking and cpr - automatic - and also be going over things again you begin to start making connections that help you reconise more subtle conditions - one of my big problems i had while running the intence 1 to 4 day courses was really i was just cramming peoples short term memory and there was never any follow up - my personel view is that if you want to keep the skills fresh and ready to use you need to do at least an hour a month refresher .

 

[wanderinstar]

When you get back to UK where are you based [ your profile doesnt say ]
Ian

 

[william#]

good question - i will probably me dividing my time in the middlands and snowdonia - no firm plans as yet