Fist Aid Training
Emergencies is one of the 9 Adventure Skills that make up prt of the program for all sections from Beavers to Rovers. First Aid makes up the main part of the Emergencies program. We wanted to make sure that we train our members in the correct methods so that they will be well capable of helping out should an emergency arise. Some of our Scouters have done various different first aid courses previously, but we wanted to make sure that everyone teaches the same way in order to provide consistency. Plus it’s never a bad thing to refresh your skills.
Our scouters were joined by 2 of our ventures and 2 other scouters from Rush who all wanted to do a first Aid course to upskill themselves before going on camp this summer.
The course began at 9:30 on Saturday morning. Derek our, our instructor and fellow Scouter from Castleknock, introduced himself and the course . He split the course into two modules to be covered over the two days - Medical and Trauma. We started on Medical and focused on CPR and AED. This is a vital skill and everyone should know how to do CPR and be confident in using an Artificial External Defibrillator (AED). The medical module also covered Stroke, choking, respiratory emergencies and allergic reactions. We learned how to deal with each in turn and what protocols to follow should we encounter one of these situations.
On Sunday morning it was straight into trauma training. We covered bleeding, blisters, fractures, sprains, strains, dislocations, spinal injuries, and concussion. We spent some time learning and practicing how to apply bandages and slings to all type of injuries as well. Poor Donal looked like he was in the wars after Brendan was through with him.
We also covered evacuations and improvised stretchers. As part of treating almost every injury you will need to treat for shock so we learned the signs and symptoms and why it is so important to reassure casualties. The final part of the course covered Scalds and burns, which lead on to Hypothermia and Hyperthermia. Given the recent weather, Hyperthermia is a risk that we need to look out for on camp.
All in all, the course was a great intro to First Aid and Emergencies for people who had not done any training previously and a great refresher for anyone who had done some previous training.
Hopefully we'll never need any of these skills, but past experience has taught us otherwise.
If you want to know more about this course, you can contact Community CPR on Facebook
