Do you know what to do?
I walked upstairs tonight to see my 5 year old spluttering with blood, his nose pinched and head tipped back trying to stop it bleeding.
Very quickly I had him over the sink, head forward, spitting out the offending red stuff.
A couple of months ago St John Ambulance advertised that more people die each year through lack of first aid than are lost to cancer. Whilst I am not convinced of the accuracy of these numbers the message is quite clear – everyone should have some basic knowledge/training.
I consider myself quite lucky in this respect, as a lifeguard our monthly CPR sessions are still lodged in my memory, having 1st aid at work training was essential in my role as leisure club manager and emergency 1st aid was always required in the various sports coaching roles I have done since leaving school.
Even though my qualifications have now all expired I feel confident that I would be able to assess a situation and respond appropriately until further help arrived. How many of you feel the same?
If you have children, do you know what to do if they scald or cut themselves, choke or even stop breathing? If the answer to this is no then please do something about this. There are fantastic resources online that will at least give you some ideas if you are unable to attend a training course.
There are many different courses available to learn these skills, from basic cuts and bruises to more in depth casualty management, but why aren't these free to everyone? You'd think that all new parents would be offered emergency training for babies and children, sadly this doesn't happen.
First aid is a life skill and everyone should have access to it. I have never had to pay for any training, I don't believe that anyone else should either.
This isn't a sponsored post and I haven't been asked to write it, I firmly believe that we all have a responsibility to ourselves and those around us to know what to do, if 1 person reads this and it prompts them to take action I will be happy.
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Totallt agree first aid training should be provided for free on a large scale.
Princess aka stealth ninja climbed on the kitchen counter and burned herself on a cake tin whilst trying to swipe some cakes. Luckily I remembered enough from first aid lessons at The Red Cross to treat her effectively. Would really like to go on more courses though!
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