Recently, here at Croydon Osteopathy, we renewed our Level 2 First Aid Certificates. Although it is part of our registration requirements, it is always important to stay up to date with any changes or new ideas.
During the training we discussed the statistics, which are, that most incidents happen in the home, in front of a family member. Emergency incidents may happen at any time, including at work or as you are walking down the street.
If an emergency happened in front of you, would you know what to do?
What happens when someone is having a cardiac arrest? The person’s heart has stopped working and therefore no blood is being pumped around the body to supply the organs and brain. The longer the body is without blood circulating the shorter the chance of survival. People observing might panic! Ambulance officers state, that the majority of times when they respond to a call, people don’t know what to do.
Seeing a loved one in medical distress is enough to cause panic, not knowing what to do only increases our sense of uselessness. If your child was choking or your partner was having a heart attack, what would your response be?
If you have First Aid training, you will have the knowledge of the required action plan that may just help save someone’s life, which could be your loved one. You may need to start Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), and by performing this, it will help pump blood around the person’s body to keep blood, and therefore oxygen flowing to the brain and organs. During the course, you also learn about anaphylaxis, the signs to look out for and how to administer an epi-pen if required.
The course also covers what to do in the following situations:
- Burns
- Bites and Stings
- Choking
- Fractures
- Diabetes
- Asthma
- Seizures
- Slings
Increasing your knowledge is never a waste of time. This information can be useful for parents worried about their newborn baby, or parents whose children play a lot of sport or are very active, grandparents who might be helping look after grandchildren, and people on a job site. At any time, any one of us could be confronted with a medical emergency, either in the home or elsewhere.
If you are in doubt, always call 000. The operators are always there to help and will guide you through the emergency procedures. If you have completed a first aid course, you may have the confidence to act quickly and potentially help or save someone’s life.
The most important thing to remember is – call 000 in an emergency.
The following apps (whilst not a substitute for proper training) are also very informative:
- Emergency +
- Australian Bites and Stings