Dry Drowning (What is it and how to recognise it)

Dry or secondary drowning can occur hours after an individual inhales water or experiences a near drowning experience in or underwater.

The individual may appear to be recovered, but the inhaled water is absorbed into the lungs and can damage the membranes necessary to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide.

It’s important to understand that secondary drowning is extremely rare and that properly supervised swimming is still a fun and healthy activity for kids.

It’s important to be vigilant however. The symptoms to watch out for included bouts of coughing and wheezing and gasping for air or lethargy.

It is good to remember that this is quite rare. If someone who has been through a near-drowning experience is going to struggle to breathe, it normally happens immediately.

It is recommended to monitor someone, particularly a child, for five to eight hours, and up to 48 hours afterwards to make sure the breathing is normal.

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How Has First Aid Training Changed

How Has First Aid Training Changed

It’s now 2 ½ years since the HSE took a step back from approving First Aid at Work Training, so what effect has this had.

It goes without saying, that once you open up a possibility there are always those who jump in trying to make a quick profit, I have seen trainers come and go who saw this as a quick and easy way to make money.

One thing it has done is allowed a lot of small companies to start and offer these courses at a fraction of the cost they were costing before the change.

So how has this happen? Are there loads of new trainers out there?

As said earlier, there has been a lot of people jump on the bandwagon, as they have seen this as an easy income, but on top of that, another thing that has happened is a lot of trainers have left the big organisation to work as freelance trainers because they have worked out that by being self-employed but freelancing for the same organisations they were working for, they can earn more money.

So what does this mean for the end user?

Well it has become somewhat of a mine field, one thing to check is, if you have First Aid certificates issued after the 1^st October 2013, which state HSE approved, these are not really valid as from that date the HSE took away the approval.

One way of ensuring your First Aid certificates are fit for purpose, is to ensure your provider is registered though an Awarding Body regulated by Ofqual, some can be found here http://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/efaw.htm although more Awarding Bodies have since registered with Ofqual

You can use those who operate independently of any such scheme, but as the end user, you are responsible of ensuring the training provider demonstrates their competence by providing evidence that they meet the criteria set by HSE

The one thing it has changed in the interest of the end user, is the price.

Prices for training are now considerably cheaper for the end user, in some case, as much as 50% cheaper.

So does this mean poorer training?

As within all walks of life, you will get the good and the bad. If you use a trainer who is registered though an Awarding Body, they should be monitor yearly by the Awarding Body. You also have a route to go down if you are unhappy with their training.

The main reason that training is cheaper is there are now many little companies with little or no overheads, delivering the courses for the bigger organisations though freelancing, so by using the smaller companies direct, you can get some of the best prices. But as the big organisations now have fewer full-time employees, they too have been able to lower their prices.

So cheaper training does not necessarily mean poorer quality

Written on behalf of: 

www.safatraining.co.uk

Sprains & Strains

Sprains & Strains

Injuries to the soft tissues around the bones and joints – the ligaments, muscles and tendons – are commonly called strains and sprains. They occur when the tissues are overstretched and partially or completely torn by violent or sudden movements. Strains and sprains should be treated initially following the RICE procedure:

R         –  Rest

I           –  Ice pack

C         –  Comfortable support

E         –  Elevation.

Follow these simple steps to help:

• The casualty may have pain or tenderness or difficulty in moving the injured part

• There might be some swelling or bruising around the injured area

• Help the casualty to sit or lie down and support the injured part in a comfortable position, preferably raised

• Cool the injured area by applying a cold ice pack (never put ice directly on the skin, wrap in cloth first)

• With the cold compress in place, allow the casualty to rest the injured part in a comfortable position, preferably raised however not to the extent that it impairs circulation 

• If the pain is severe or the casualty cannot move or use the injured part, arrange to take or send them to hospital, otherwise advise the casualty to rest and to seek medical advice if necessary.

For more information about first aid courses visit,

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First Aid for Bleeding

BLEEDING

Depending on where the wound is, blood could be gushing out at speed, so you need to act quickly to stop excessive blood loss and unconsciousness.

'It is possible for a person to bleed out their entire blood volume in around just a minute from a serious wound,' 

(A heart beats an average of 72 beats per minute, each beat pumps roughly 70mls of blood, 72 x 70 = 5040 - the average adult has 5 litres of blood) 

So grip the wound as firmly as you can with a clean towel or any large cloth you find nearby.

Apply pressure directly to the wound and raise it to at least the level of the heart to reduce the blood flow to the affected area.

If your leg is bleeding, lie down and lift up your leg to get it above the heart. This distorts the blood flow, making it harder for blood to flow uphill against gravity.

This reduces how much of it reaches the wound, which in turn reduces the amount of bleeding.

As a general rule, whether you are hurt or tending someone else who is, do not try applying a tourniquet to stop bleeding.

The majority of severe bleeds can be dealt effectively with direct pressure to stop or slow down the flow of blood until emergency help arrives.

Not only are torniquets difficult to apply to yourself, they can cause irreparable damage to a limb if not applied by a medic with specialist training.

'The trouble is that to be effective torniquets stop the blood flow completely. This also starves the limb of oxygen and if the pressure is not released in time, irreparable tissue damage will occur,' says Clive James, a training officer with St John Ambulance.

Never try to remove anything that is embedded in a wound. Leave it where it is because it could be forming a plug, so removing it could make the bleeding worse. Wait until you get to A&E, where it will be removed in a sterile environment and the wound can be treated properly.

Interested in learning First Aid?

Why not book on to one of our courses www.safatraining.co.uk

Alone And Choking - What To Do

Your alone and you start choking, there is no one to help, what can you do?

The average ambulance response time is eight minutes, but if you're choking, the brain can survive for only three minutes without oxygen before it starts to die. So, it is critical to know what to do and to act quickly

'Your actions are the most important factor in an emergency and the first ten minutes are the most crucial. Whatever you do, always do something.'

Obviously, not all situations can be dealt with on your own, such as if you faint or have a fit, and you should always seek professional medical care in a critical situation.

But here, with the help of experts, we go through the most effective self-help procedures you can do if you find yourself alone and in an emergency...

If something lodges in your airway, your natural reflex is to cough to get it out. Doing this as vigorously as you can should work in most cases, says Joe Mulligan (a first-aid expert at the British Red Cross). Bending over with your head down should help move a lodged item.

You can also perform a version of abdominal thrusts on yourself (applying pressure to the abdomen to force a lodged object up and out of your throat).

If something lodges in your airway, try to cough or perform a version of the abdominal thrusts. 

There are two ways of doing this. First, by doing abdominal thrusts with your fist. Make a fist with one hand and place it just above your belly button. Place the other hand on top for support and push really hard, in short, sharp thrusts. Try about five of these.

You could also try abdominal thrusts on the back of a chair - this may be easier in the heat of the moment. Lean over a sturdy chair or table, holding on if you need to, and thrust your upper belly against the top edge using short, sharp motions.

You should always seek medical help after using either of these techniques in case you have caused internal damage or bruising.

'When people are choking, they may not have the physical strength in their arms to perform abdominal thrusts and there are anecdotes of people dislodging the item by replicating the abdominal thrusts on the back of a chair,' says Alan Weir, head of clinical services at St John Ambulance.

Minimum Contents of a Workplace First Aid Kit

Do you know what should be in your workplace first aid kit

The minimum requirements according to the guidelines set out by the Health & Safety Executive are as follows

• A guidance leaflet
• 20 individually wrapped plasters      
• (Assorted sizes)
• 2 sterile eye pads
• 2 triangular bandages                      
• (Individually wrapped and preferably sterile)
• 6 medium sterile wound dressings  
• (Individually wrapped and un-medicated)
• 2 large sterile wound dressings      
• (Individually wrapped and un-medicated)
• At least 3 pairs of disposable gloves
• 6 safety pins
• 5 anti-septic wipes (Individually wrapped)

Other items are allowed that are appropriate to your business such as burns dressings and ice packs.

 No medicines, ointments etc. 

The Face of Little Annie.

This face is known to millions around the world and been kissed by billions.

But did you know According to his company website, Asmund Laerdal, the founder of Laerdal Medical, based in Stavanger, Norway, based the face on a real person.

The story goes, According to popular myth at the end of the 19th century, a young girl's lifeless body was pulled from Paris's Quai François Mitterrand, which was then called Quai du Louvre.

As no signs of violence could be found on her, it was decided she had committed suicide, with some stories suggesting it was a case of unrequited love that prompted her death.

Because no one could identify her, a plaster mask of her face was made and hung outside a shop door.

Her delicate beauty became popular with artists and writers, who fabricated stories about the cause of her suicide.

Asmund Laerdal, who became a pioneer for making resuscitation aids out of soft plastic, in the 1950s he developed Resusci Annie, otherwise known as Rescue Annie, a life-like mannequin used to train people in mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

His website says he was so moved by the unknown woman's tragic background; he adopted her mask for his first-aid doll.

He was convinced that if a mannequin was life-like, students would be determined to learn the lifesaving procedure.

Millions have been taught how to breathe life into the face of the girl who is believed to have taken her own, making her the most kissed girl in the world.

Since its original introduction, several different versions of Resusci Anne have also been introduced, including ones that simulate other emergency medical conditions, such as severe wounds and trauma.

If the myth is true, then this young girls tragedy has probably lead to saving more life's than any other single person.

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