On Friday the 10th of march a first aid course was held up in the mercy hall for the ty students. When we walked in we were divided up into groups of four with two paramedics talking which each group. In my group we firstly discussed what to do in certain situations such as someone passing out due to overuse of alcohol. We then were taught the recovery position which is crucial to help prevent someone who is unconscious from choking on their sick in their sleep.
In the second group we discussed how to handle people with seizures. We learned that age depends a lot on how people should be handled and treated. In the case of a baby we learned that it should be cooled down as it would calm the seizure and even after the seizures stop it still needs to be admitted to hospital. In the case of someone older you should just ring the ambulance and hold their head as they could break it off the ground.
In the third group we discussed and were taught how to apply a dressing and cast to people properly. We learned that even if the blood is seeping through keep getting more and more plaster as it will eventually stop.
In the fourth group we learned what to do in the situation of a baby choking. We learned that you actually press the baby up and down in the center of their chest as it will get the trapped food out. If you tried to do normal choking first aid on a baby you would end up breaking the babies ribs and bones causing serious permanent damage.
After that we were all brought together were we watched video footage on how to do CPR and how to use an AED. We were all given a dummy and had to do it. I was so glad that we learned this as i feel like it will be really beneficial to us in the future.
Karen Timoney 