I did my first First Aid Course when I was 14 and continue to refresh my certificate every three years (sometimes more often). I also did a spell as a trainer a number of years ago. I think anyone involved in teaching or working with young people should do at least a basic course (it should be part of Initiual Teacher Education).
For my three year re-fresh this time around I joined a Rescue and Emergency Care Course organized by Leading Edge Expeditions in Dorset. There were twenty of us on the course and although I wasn’t sure if I would know anyone – I was delighted to find some familiar faces from past outdoor education work and expeditions.
One of the other nice things about the course was the number of young people who were attending and also going away on expeditions this summer. This included groups who are off to Ecuador, Kenya and the Alps.
During one very funny moment on the Sunday afternoon was when we managed to convince one of the Alps 2011 expedition team to put the ‘Resusci Annie’ Tracksuit on. It actually quite suited her…
Three more years until the next up-date – I wonder what the ratio of rescue breadths to chest compressions will be in 2014?
Having completed standard First Aid at Work training and Outdoor First Aid training, I would thoroughly recommend the outdoor one! It covered child CPR, and the trainer adapted the course to meet the specific needs of the participants. So we got lots on burns (campfires), sprains, breaks and that sort of thing. However I do not recall a "Pen in Head" scenario. What on earth were you doing? Draining excess fluid off your brain?
Posted by: Juliet @CreativeSTAR | April 12, 2011 at 10:24 PM
a lot can change in three years people forget that
Posted by: abc | July 12, 2011 at 04:56 PM