Most people will agree that a First Aid accreditation is a useful (and often mandatory) qualification to hold; and few survivors of a medical emergency would doubt their efficacy – especially when incidents take hold outside of a clinical setting. But just how effective are first aid courses?
An October 2014 study by The British Heart Foundation (released under their campaign to ‘Create a Nation of Lifesavers’) discovered that 80% of all cardiac arrests (or around 30,000 of them) occur outside of a hospital setting; when the emergency services must be dispatched to remote locations. In such circumstances, time is clearly of the essence. Do you have the skills to preserve or maintain life until help arrives?
First Aid skills concern much more than dealing with cardiac arrests, however. The British Red Cross compile a heart-warming collection of ‘First Aid True Stories’ that demonstrate the effectiveness and enormous value rightly attributed to trained ‘first aiders’ – from road traffic accidents and choking incidents through to falling pensioners and arterial bleeds.
Some of us will be fortunate enough never to witness a medical emergency in our lifetime; but not many. When you’re called into action, will you be filled with enormous pride – or will you rue the fact that you were lacking the requisite skills?
First Aid courses are an invaluable life skill that we should all aspire to attaining; and not just thought of as ‘another mandatory course’. How many lives COULD have been saved in recent times? I don’t have the numbers, but the papers are littered with sad stories of what might have been.
How effective are first aid courses? When it happens…you’ll know.
Ask your employer to facilitate your training – or book onto one of our convenient ‘open’ first aid courses, and add a vital skill to your personal toolset.
NOTE: This article was written on behalf of our client Source Solutions UK; and appears on their website here.