how many of us are first aid trained?

[nickg]

One of the major selling points for the 'flip-front' bike helmets is that you can perform CPR on a biker.
Just as a side point, CPR rarely works - its a very hit-andmiss 'science'.

Rarely is better than never - particularly if is you thats on the receiving end. Writing it off as not worth using it is the wrong thing. It works quite well on the majority of drownings IF begun in time and it is better than standing around with your hands in your pocket watching somebody go cold.

 

[Tribaljamin]

Rarely is better than never - particularly if is you thats on the receiving end. Writing it off as not worth using it is the wrong thing. It works quite well on the majority of drownings IF begun in time and it is better than standing around with your hands in your pocket watching somebody go cold.

Couldnt agree with you more mate; CPR is a valid tool and clearly does have a use within any first aiders mind, but theres always hoo-haa attached with CPR. Its just another tool; an often over-rated tool.

 

[Wayne]

2% of people will be successfully resusitated using CPR alone.

The figures are higher for drowning casualties.

The only time you should refrain from CPR is on a very hypothermic casualty. there is a high risk of causing Ventricular Defibrillation. (sp)

I think those that attended my first aid course where surprised how different working on people in a realistic setting is from FAW training. Removing a 16 stone man from a ditch with spinal injuries is never going to be easy.

 

[Tribaljamin]

A sub-officer I worked with in the fire service punched / hit / struck his elderly mum in the chest while she was having a cardic arrest and brought her back into the realms of the living.

Not sure if it was the action or the principal that got the old ticker going again, but it worked!

 

[Martyn]

A sub-officer I worked with in the fire service punched / hit / struck his elderly mum in the chest while she was having a cardic arrest and brought her back into the realms of the living.

Not sure if it was the action or the principal that got the old ticker going again, but it worked!

It is SOP for ALS trained practitioners. It's called a precordial thump and should only be performed if the arrest is witnessed and it's only any good if the arrest is a VF arrest.

 

[w00dsmoke]

2% of people will be successfully resusitated using CPR alone.

(sp)

I think those that attended my first aid course where surprised how different working on people in a realistic setting is from FAW training. Removing a 16 stone man from a ditch with spinal injuries is never going to be easy.

Absolutley right. I've carried an 18 stone guy for just under a mile with another person to a farm track from an old wooded coal bing. It was a broken ankle the guy had and we had to get him out to where we could get access with a vehicle. The hardest part was getting him through a fence.

I think the point about cpr is missed on most folk. Finding a place with a defib is absolutley paramount if you want them to live. If I lived ina more remote place I would buy one and get certificated on it's use.

 

[Greg]

I hold a FAW certificate as a member of an oil refinery First Response Team and because of the nature of the job - First Aider / Fire Fighter - I am also trained in the use of a portable defib unit and various Dreager Oxygen kits.

I also did 12 yrs of annual Field First Aid training with the army which was quite interesting because it involved dealing with multiple casualties - as you can probably imagine, gunshot wounds, battlefield shock, shock, hot & cold weather injuries, broken & dislocated limbs, burns (fire and chemical) etc - your everyday Triage really!

I completely agree that field training to make it as real life as possible is the only way to really learn the subject. Classroom theory is all well and good but it can't beat real to life training in the outdoors!

 

[Rebelrat]

I am qualified to use a portable defib and current with CPR and first aid.
I'm a Sargeant Major in the Dutch airforce and we train combat first aid every year. It is a good practice for remote locations and bad conditions. It's basic but reliable. Would be great if everyone has some knowledge of first aid.

 

[waynerck]

I'm faw qualified not long ago but have completed various courses in the past, I have used it a couple of times but that's a story for the campfire.
oh by the way the jet petrol stations (n ireland) are selling nifty first aid kits for 5.99 bargin

 

[Fallow Way]

I`m currently Appointed Person, FAW, Red Cross Standard and Red Cross Expidition and also a First Aid instructor and regulary training in all sorts, including extraction, as part of being in a Search and Rescue team.


They cycle helmet thing...if you can maintain an airway with it on, leave it on, if you cant, take it off. You may die from spinal injuries...you WILL die from not breathing.

Spinal injuries in genreal are not taught well in my experience, a lot of instructors make brash generalitites and play down the importance of communication, the proceadues for supporting/chaning support or removing a helmet and how much care needs to be taken.

 

[Greg]

Spinal injuries in genreal are not taught well in my experience, a lot of instructors make brash generalitites and play down the importance of communication, the proceadues for supporting/chaning support or removing a helmet and how much care needs to be taken.

I am quite lucky in this respect because all my First Aid training is done by the on site Fire Brigade Technicians who all have alot of experience and knowledge of spinal and crush injuries.
So we do go into depth as in the event of a catastrophic accident in my place of work there are likely to be alot of these types of injuries aswell as fire/chemical burns!

 

[addyb]

My certificate has run out, but the "how to do it" stuff in my head hasn't. It was mandatory training back when I was in Air Cadets to take a yearly St. John's Ambulance refresher course. Mind you, I've only ever had to use it once and that was last semester when a classmate of mine cut his hand open badly on the sharp edge of a metal chair.

Cheers,

Adam

 

[dean2]

my cert has just run out, though i am on a course in may, so i will have my cert back, i would say that it is very usful and i think it would help you when out and about if you even did just a basic course.

Dean ;o)

 

[saffy]

I've done the Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training 3 day course which covers first aid. Long time run out - 4 year period, would need to do a another days refresher training to regain certification.

 

[Joethefish]

Will agree that even if certificates run out knowledge often stays, mines updated regularly for work but have been trained constantly for over ten years. Basics stay the same odd things change year on year. Some knowledge is better than none. Current knowledge is better than some, putting any knowledge into practice can suck, but always better to know you tried than stood idlly by.
Joe

 

[twisted firestarter]

Did a basic first aid course and first aid at work course 2 years ago and it shocks me how little I remember. I think they try to cram too much information into too short a space and we were helped with our exam questions which worked wonders with passing but not with taking on board the information. My partner did her course 6 months later and the whole CPR had changed. Still glad I did it though

 

[mrostov]

Did EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) training in Phoenix a many years ago.

 

[Callan]

I have got a heartstart certificate for first aid I got with cadets in May. Things like CPR, recovery position, bleeds, breaks, fractures and those sort of things.

 

[Zodiak]

New BLS guidlines published about 1/12 ago by Resus Council...and what a surprise its all changed again

If no signs of life (remember the parrot)...get help (phone, carrier pigeon etc)
Now here's the change start compressions first X 30 then breaths X 2.
Breaths 1 sec inspiritory time NOT 2 secs.

Agreed, its a pain to keep changing it but the full details along with explanations are here http://www.resus.org.uk/pages/bls.pdf

Z

 

[Sgt Sim]

Did Swedish Red Cross First Aid and CPR in 1998 and 1999, TCCC (Tactical Combat Casualty Care) with the Swedish Armed Forces in 2000 (about 50- 80 hours) and 2001, Supplemental CPR in 2004 with the Swedish Cardiological Society, Supplemental First Aid and CPR in 2005 when I took my Industrial Fire Fighter license and have been teatching conscripst, Home Guard personell and Army Cadets in basic TCCC between 2000 and 2005.
I am just woundering one thing: Here in the UK it seems that your First Aid trainings comes with a "Best- before" date, wheather the Swedish ones does not and is concidered to last for life if you are a civilian (basically it is up to your own discression if you think that you cand od it when you need), any one knows whyr the UK issued ones has an expirie date and the swedish ones does not? Is it a legal thing here?