Our P&F recently organised an afternoon First Aid course for parents and keen students (over the age of ten). Here is a re-cap by Simone on the very informative day…
Our instructor, Sinead, covered what should really be in your First Aid Kit. Her recommendation was:
+ latex gloves that you can buy from the supermarket
+ A face shield (to protect yourself when performing CPR) available from the Chemist or Sinead was selling them for $5 on the day.
+ 2 good quality Crepe bandages (throw away the clips – they will only pierce your gloves)
+ Glad Wrap, which had many uses including water proof dressing.
+ Tick removal treatments (Lyoclear – scabies cream, and Wart Off – for freezing ticks) Never squeeze them.
The average length of time that an ambulance takes to make it to a call out is 13mins, so if you need to do CPR that is a good guide as to how long you may need to keep it up.
Sinead handed out small A4 posters which are great reminders for how to respond to an emergency that may require CPR, as follows:
Danger – Check for Danger
Response – Check for response
Send – Send For Help (particularly important role that children can play in an emergency
Airway – Open the Airway (roll onto side)
Breathing – Check for Breathing
Compressions – Perform 30 compressions to victim followed by 2 breaths
Defibrillation – Attach an automated external defibrillator (AED) if available.
Sinead recommended that this poster be on the back of a door in your kitchen as well as in the car.
In addition to practicing CPR and demonstrating an AED, Sinead also demonstrated treating a snake bite with 2 compression bandages and how to use an Epipen. She also recommended 2 apps: Emergency + and the Daniel Morcombe Foundation – particularly good for children’s phones. For more updates and alerts you can ‘Like’ Apply First Aid Northern Beaches on Facebook.
It was a very informative session for adults and children alike and has resulted in some great discussions between parents and children since.
