First Aid Course

On October 3rd, the Sports Committee were invited to take part in a first aid course with a paramedic called Alan Horgan. The Sports Committee was divided into two groups, one participated in the morning and the other the afternoon. So after lunch the second group headed down to the room where the course was taking place. As we entered the room our eyes were drawn to the nine dummies on the floor. We sat down in our seats anxious to learn. Alan introduced himself and began to tell us about CPR. Many of us had never learned how to do this before and it was scary at first knowing this could save somebody's life.

Soon after watching a video, demonstrating how many compression's to do, we tri on the dummies. Alan told us to always check that CPR is needed before proceeding to the compression's. It is used when the patients heart stops working (cardiac arrest). An easy way to remember is just to check for a patients pulse and breathing.  As we began to feel confident with CPR, Alan introduced the breathing mask. We each got a small plastic tube to stick into an oxygen mask and he informed us these would be available in a defibrillator bag when needed. 

Alan instructed us how to breath into the dummies , tilt the head all the way back and blow into the tube. Then we proceeded to watch a video on how to use a defibrillator to shock a patient. There were a number of steps necessary before shocking the patient including making sure the area is safe. We each took turns practicing on the dummies and soon put the compression's, the breathing and the defibrillator all together.  We all now have the ability to help someone if needed . The committee was very thankful to Alan for taking time to teach us such a valuable lesson and we really enjoyed the day.