Have You Done A First Aid Course?

I did mine at TAFE as part of my Conservation and Land Management course. Really it was only for snake bite procedures, but we do the whole course.

Angie is doing her Junior First Aid via St Johns this holiday. We are signing CPR permissions too as part of the driving force behind her doing it is our near miss on NYD - we went swimming at a river near tamborine, and as Sam puts it, he "run out of ground". Went straight down and because all the kids were being properly supervised, I pulled him out and my brother had his airway open in 30sec - although as his mother it felt like 30 minutes.

When she saw me fishing him out she felt helpless and started screaming. She never wants to feel that way again. I am rather proud of her decision - it was a very mature one to make under the circumstances.

The course I did was 8 hours over 2 days. It was fairly informative, but it did kind of feel like a cram session. I think I was most disappointed that I forgot it all at the very moment I needed it, and was so grateful my brother was far more level headed - but I think it was because it was my baby. That rotten maternal switch - it doesn't fix it. :(

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When she saw me fishing him out she felt helpless and started screaming. She never wants to feel that way again. I am rather proud of her decision - it was a very mature one to make under the circumstances.

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My DH joined St John to learn First Aid and to help others because he drowned at the age of 9 and someone who was at the party, knew CPR and was able to revive him... he wanted to be able to do the same for others. What your DD has realised is a very mature and wise thing. Cudos to her :clap:

Inertia: I totally understand how trying to help your own child is so much harder than helping others in life threatening situations. I've been first on the scene to a car accident, helped strangers and friends of my kids (as recently as last week I had to deal with a friend's broken arm) but with my own kids I find it harder to remain calm... I mean I do... because I want them to not be frightened and to actually survive but I really need to somehow learn how to avoid getting that mental fuzz mind blank that could impact negatively on being able to help them.... no wonder surgeons often refuse to operate on relatives... I guess it's a common thing.

Thanks Mother Goose. I am extremely proud of her maturity, and we decided that we would be 100% behind her with it - despite the fact the course is all day on Harrys birthday.

Bath: Its so scary, isn't it. You know you know what to do - but you just can't remember it and it has never been as important to you as it is now! I was just so grateful for my brother because DH was also near catatonic at seeing his son being pulled out. Sam was floating just under the surface, but he mumbled to me when I got him out so I knew I wasn't too late and just needed some help and he would be fine. We called an ambulance anyway and had him transported to hospital because of secondary drowning risks.

First time I had ever recieved a compliment on my parenting from Logan Hospital. Apparently they have seen much sicker kids from near drownings and how rapidly he bouced back was a reflection on the rapid response.

However I have had my neice bleeding all over me from a laceration to the head and I was perfectly rational and had the situation under control. Her mum was pretty much how I was when my brother took Sam off me.

Oddly, DH cuts himself and I get ill and pass out. Go figure. O.o Just my luck he incised his arm about an hour ago. Screwdriver broke and sliced right through it. Had to go out and treat it without looking at it too much. My body is so weird. I can look at the injury, but not the blood.

I'm the same Mags. I can look at the goriest things and actually be quite fascinated... until I consider the injury from the victims perspective... my imagination/empathy is too strong. I also have naturally low blood pressure so the slightest bit of stress will often make me feel light-headed. I have considered training to be a nurse but I think I would have too much empathy and be too prone to fainting. I always dealt with dissecting animals and organs at school really easily... actually I am very fascinated by anatomy... it's a shame my empathy section of my brain short-circuits my thought processes when somebody i care about is involved. Maybe it gets easier with practise???

Oh Bath, I hear you. My dreams of becoming a surgeon were stolen by my blood-injection-injury phobia. I fought it so hard for so long, did everything the needlephobe report said might work and I still get syncope. I can't be a doctor when just looking at an injury will make me sick and pass out. I dunno how I coped with my niece, and I wish I could do it again. Who knows, maybe its telling me to be a paediatric surgeon!

I still don't know what I want to do now. People keep saying midwife. Guess I need to find out if I am going to be able to do that without losing my lunch. :(

I would like it to get easier with practice - I am not too old yet.

I'm trying to think of that TV show... British... that featured a blood-phobic doctor in Cornwall... great show... very funny in a dry kinda way.

One thing that does help me when I start to feel fragile (looking at a gory injury) is imagining the injury as a schematic diagram... with labels etc. That was one thing I really would have loved to have been: an anatomical artist for text books... perfect combination of my love of art and science!

Bath - you do quickly become desensitized to things... and you can nurse without having to deal with gory stuff. Promise. I think you'd make a great nurse! I'd love to work with you!

Aww ta MG :D I think I would be a good nurse on some levels, mainly the interpersonal (calming and de-escalating conflict with patients) ... but not-so-good with some pretty vital areas: the maths that comes with giving a dose of medicine and the "office politics" side of things. If society crumbles I could imagine myself becoming the little old witch who knows all the herbal remedies, attends births and to who people bring their dying... hehe! But until that happens I think I'll just be content with doing my first aid course and nursing my immediate family! :) but thanks for the vote of confidence again MG!