First Aid

Last week I attended a first aid course, along with 20 others from Christian Vision Zambia. The course was held on site, for three full days.

I took a first aid course, many years ago, so this was a refresher course, but I was surprised by how much I had forgotten, or never learned!

Here are some of the group in a break (still feeling rather formal, I think!):

One of our trainer's, Adam, with 'Annie', the dummy on which we learnt how to do CPR (Cardio, Pulmonory, Resuscitation):

At the end of the second day we went outside to practise emergency lifts:

Two people can perform a three-handed lift, if the patient needs back support (4th hand):

...or a stronger, larger, four-handed lift:

There were many other lifts, including fireman's lift, 'piggyback' (which was called 'pick-a-back'!),and 'cruddle' (another term I hadn't heard of and wonder if it's a corruption of the word 'cuddle', as it's the traditional 'wedding lift'):

...and this one - the human stretcher:

We learned the recovery postion:

...and had great fun with bandages - this was for a shoulder covering:

...an elevation sling:

..some nifty head coverings:

...a emergency neck restraint (which utilised a piece of card, inside the bandage, very effectively):

...and the very complicated, spine immobilisation, (requiring seven bandages, a long under-arm splint, and several other bandages for padding - which made me wonder where one would find all those bandages, in an emergency!):

The final bandage is called the 'ring' bandage, used for stabbings or impalements:

One topic I hadn't covered before was snake bites, which was very interesting, especially in the light of recent encounters... (see 'Slithering Snakes' below)