LocationNews and events » CEO Blog: Compressions of a novice first aider
By Julia Hobbs, Chief Executive, St John Cymru-Wales
How will you spend your Friday evening? Relaxing with family friends? Partying hard? Settling down to a box-set weekend, but nodding off after 20 minutes?
Recently, I spent mine on a train, travelling the length of Wales and contemplating a three-day First Aid at Work course that I was about to experience.
Two of our First Responders, Jack Gibbins and Matthew Jones, spent their Friday evening putting their skills to the toughest test. While I was lost in thought, they were attending a cardiac arrest in Dyfed. Successfully, I might add. They worked with colleagues from Welsh Ambulance Service Trust until their patient regained spontaneous circulation and respiratory effort.
Imagine that! Putting critical life-saving skills to the best possible use.
Such dedication to duty is profoundly affecting and it fired me up for day one of my training. My trainer, Geoff 'A bit of a legend' Gower, had to delay the start of the course while I recovered from a spell of driving dizziness. (Thanks, ears!) Once we got going, I resolved to put everything into learning some key life-preserving skills.
I wasn't even 30 compressions in before the full impact of a successful cardiac arrest story hit me. It is hard work – genuinely hard work – keeping going for a couple of minutes. First aiders will keep this up for as long as it takes. What an astonishing achievement.
After three days of demonstrations, instruction and practice, I am enormously grateful for the thousands of St John Cymru-Wales volunteer first aiders out there. They have been honing their skills for years, even decades.
It’s not just Friday evenings where our volunteers make a difference. Just this week, our first aiders helped save the life of a 72 year old woman who had a cardiac arrest while watching the Swansea v Liverpool match at the Liberty Stadium. They used a defibrillator to shock the lady’s heart, before our paramedics took her to hospital. When they left A&E, the lady was sitting up, chatting and saying how thankful she was for their help.
Makes you think doesn't it?
In case you don’t yet have a first aider in your home, sign up for one of our courses. If I can get my certificate, so can you. Every home should have at least one first aider and if that’s you, who’s going to save you? Maybe it's time to get your loved-one trained too!
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