Last weekend I attended a taster first aid course with the British Red Cross. They are launching the First Aid challenge because surveys suggest that two-thirds of the nation do not know basic first aid and their aim is to change this! As the mother of small children the fact that I have not been on a first aid course specifically for children does make me worry. I have taken a British Red Cross course for adult first aid but because this was with my old work it was for first aid in the work place and didn’t cover what to do with infants. I attended a brief talk with an ambulance man who came to one of my SureStart groups but if I’m honest it wasn’t very in-depth and although better than nothing it does still worry me how little knowledge on the subject I have. I jumped at the chance then to attend this session so that I could pick up some more information and hear more about the First Aid Challenge they are setting. So first off here is the challenge:
Challenge ONE: Learn on-line. Take just a minute to pick up a basic first aid skill using the internet. If you have no time to attend a course at least if you check out whats on offer on-line you may pick up something you didn’t know before which could come in handy in the future! The British Red Cross have 20 child first aid videos you can watch and learn from!
Challenge TWO: Take a course. What could be better than learning in person from the experts? Sign up to the challenge now and receive £5 off a first aid for baby and child course.
Challenge THREE: Send a letter. If you agree that young children should get to learn first aid skills at school then send a letter to your child’s school asking them to do this. The British Red Cross have a special letter you can download, print and sign before handing in to your child’s school. They also have created free teaching resources to be used in schools; point your childs teachers in the right direction!
That’s the challenge and after hearing about it on the taster session I went to I couldn’t be more convinced; we learnt lots of new things, things I thought I knew were made clearer in my mind and I also was told about things I didn’t know at all. It’s easy to forget certain things like how many rescue breaths and compressions to give a baby and a child (5 rescue breaths followed by 30 chest compressions to begin with, then from there on, two 2 rescue breaths followed by 30 chest compressions and keep going with this cycle for one minute). For children over one and up to puberty, after tilting their head back and lifting the chin, the rescue breaths are to be over their mouth and with children under one they are to be over their mouth and nose. I did know this but I had forgotten. If someone had asked me I would not have categorically known the answer and it’s important. The man who gave the session also told us in brief about choking and burns amongst other things. I knew that if a child or indeed anyone is burned that you need to run the burn under cold water. I had no idea that cold beer, lemonade, whatever is closest to hand would also suffice! If I was ever in the position and we were not in the house I would have wasted time running into the house when I may have had something closer I could use! I hope I never ever am in the position that I will need to use any of this information but to be armed with the knowledge isn’t going to hurt anyone, to not be possibly could. I am looking forward to doing a Red Cross First Aid for Baby and Child Course and I am looking forward to spreading the word about the First Aid Challenge!
The instructor at the taster session demonstrates how to stop a child from choking. See the British Red Cross Website for more information on anything in this article.
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