The definition of “First Aid is the immediate assistance or treatment given to someone injured, suddenly taken ill before the arrival of an Ambulance, Doctor or other appropriately qualified person”. So therefore what does this statement mean to you? Whether you have experience in this field or not MOST people know First Aid or what to do in an emergency when I teach First Aid in my classes I always ask “what is First Aid in 2 words”? Most will say:

  • Helping Someone
  • Doing CPR
  • A Plaster
  • Stop Bleeding
  • Recovery Position
  • First Responder

However when you give experiences such as when you are at a restaurant and the person opposite begins to change colour, eyes open wide, they grab for their throat so what’s wrong what would you do. Most will say choking and you hit them on the back or give them the “Hindenburg manoeuvre”, or “Heineken manoeuvre” or Heimlich Manoeuvre or squeeze their stomach. Now known as Abdominal thrusts this is performed on a choking casualty however this is not necessarily the initial treatment given to this casualty. When you ask a colleague approaches you with a severe wound to their hand asking for help again what would you do? Most say put pressure on the wound, cover it with a dressing, and elevate the arm to stop bleeding as it is harder for blood to go up hill and sit or lay the casualty down. “Why lay them down”? In case they collapse. How to deal with someone lying motionless in front of you, check breathing, see if they respond, look for Dangers, and if they are breathing what could we do “Put them into the recovery position, Why? To stop them from being sick or swallowing their tongue. So when we ask what is First Aid its “Common Sense” most people understand what to do in the event of an incident but maybe doubt their ability to manage a situation or taking control of a situation but the worst thing you can do in First Aid is nothing walk past without stopping to help someone who cannot help themselves.

Nothing beats learning First Aid, it takes a few hours to learn basic life saving techniques, NDFA Training run courses every week at our training centre here in Bangor to book onto one of our courses call today or check out our website www.ndfatraining.co.uk /courses