CPR

[FloraDora]

We heard the sad news yesterday that my DH 's cousin had a heart attack.
Luckily he had it sitting on the sofa next to his wife who is a midwife.....she kept CPR going until the ambulance arrived and it then took 5 paddle attempts before they we're happy he was on the road to recovery....very scary. Hen s recovering well.

It got me thinking if I would be able to do what she did.....yes in theory I know how .....but...

So this morning we downloaded the British Heart foundation App and practised . The App is really good, I recomend it to everyone. To train yourself you hold your phone whilst pushing and it tells you if you are pressing deep enough or hard enough....whilst playing staying alive, which does give you the rhythm.

We aim to practise every week now - it just brought it home to us how vulnerable we are.......I want to be able to get the pressure and speed right straight off....it took several goes initially in today's practise.

[Maza]

How is he now, FloraDora?

[hectors house]

Hope he is recovering well and well done to his wife for putting her training into practice - we all hope that when the time comes it all comes back to us.

I was shocked to hear that a local softplay centre told a childminder whose mindee had a serious accident there that they didn't need to have a first aider as parents/carers are responsible for the children at all times, her concern was what would happen if it had been her who had fell and knocked herself out or had a heart attack like your husband's cousin. Heard last week that at a local spinning class (studio cycling) a man had a heart attack and was kept "alive" until the ambulance arrived - I think he is going to be ok - thank heaven's that the sports centre haven't got the same policy as the Soft play!

[FussyElmo]

Thanks for the link to the app Floradora a fresher is good for everyone.

Hope your cousin is well on the way to recovery now

[FloraDora]

He has had a pacemaker fitted and seems to be recovering well....thanks for your concerns.

Hectors House, you have brought up a valid point about public recreation places and whether they should have first aid qualifications.
My father in law unfortunately died having had a heart attack. He was in a remote hotel in the North of Scotland, on holiday, dancing..the staff at the hotel did keep him alive but it took the ambulance so long to get there that he actually died in the ambulance on the way to hospital....bringing home the importance of quickness to get to hospital in these cases. Again though, a bar man did the main bulk of the effort which of course we were very grateful for. He was a student, but had in his younger days been a member of StJohn's - a great youth group to belong to. So nothing to do with the hotel staff being required to have first aid...especially since most of their cliental were coach trips of elderly folk!

Personally I think a first aid qualification is really good for everyone ...you never know when you might need the skills. Perhaps it should be on the school curriculum?

My son has just been given the job of fire steward in his office, he says he only took it because he got an extra monthly payment, but he also was sent on a first aid course too, and was amazed at his lack of basic first aid knowledge before hand. this week he has got the people in his office to practice with the CPR app on some pillows at lunch time and now they are all enthused and asking if the company can organise training for everyone...let's hope the company see it as an investment!

[AliceK]

Everyone should have some first aid training IMO. On my last 12hr course there was a granddad there who was going to be looking after his grand kids so he had booked himself on. Even my children have some knowledge, passed on by myself which may kick in and be of use someday, you just never know.

xx

[FussyElmo]

My dh works for a company who runs care homes for adults with SEN.

The shocking absolutely shocking part is he does not have to do a practical first aid its all done online :(:(

[hectors house]

My dh works for a company who runs care homes for adults with SEN.

The shocking absolutely shocking part is he does not have to do a practical first aid its all done online :(:(

Crazy - we all know from our first aid course that it takes a while to get the chest compressions hard enough to make a "click" or to get the mouth seal right to raise the chest - how the hell can you learn that on line! :(