There are first aid courses, and then there are first aid courses. Yesterdays aim was to become an expert in the first aid basics, so as to be able to do simple things in extraordinary circumstances. In the last year, I completed a first aid course with St. John's Ambulance, but this clearly did not prepare me for the scenarios I faced yesterday.The morning started off covering the essentials... vital signs, the primary survey, and keeping people alive. Two mistakes I made repeatedly... failing to call for help at appropriate moments, and failing to protect myself from the casualty by wearing gloves.The afternoon covered more specifics of using first aid to tackle life threatening injuries, such as heart attacks, strokes, chocking, bleeding and shock.
One scenario involved approaching an unconscious casualty also gushing blood from the knee. This was preceded by a session on identifying and treating for shock. "Their are two things people rarely ignore... blood and crying babies." Crying babies aside, the exercise showed how distractions such as blood, and external factors such as people around you saying to treat for shock can distract from the real issue... keeping the casualty breathing.An important aspect of the sessions was not only course content, but also course delivery. Sessions and exercises were most effective when feedback from others was used to assess competence. In carrying out scenarios relevant to context, today has taught me to ALWAYS follow the first aid primary survey system.
A great way to learn first aid is to teach other people. I think this is an important aspect of being a first aider, especially in development and humanitarian relief contexts where small amounts of first aid knowledge transferred to others can save lives... a great example of massive small change.
