Has the message about first aid skills been learned?

Today the BBC news have questioned whether first aid skills have been learned after the hard hitting St John Ambulance television advert was launched earlier this year. The advert which featured a child falling out of a tree and his father not knowing what to do has had some people questioning whether this is too hard hitting…

The full article can be viewed here – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24396890

We asked the team from Resuscitation & Medical Consultancy to comment on the advert and their thoughts around parents learning first aid;

Director, Steve Furnell commented that he felt the advert was excellent to highlight that many parents do not know what to do in an emergency and they cannot rely on someone else being around, such as a neighbour, who does know what to do. Whilst the advert is shocking, this is nothing new. Shock tactics have been used for many years in trying to get people to learn first aid. In 2002 I launched a campaign called ‘Live or Let Die’ comprising of advertising posters of tombstones stating ‘Joe Bloggs, age 39…. Died because his friends and family didn’t know what to do’. This created quite a stir but the end result was more people did attend short 2hr CPR classes, and this did save lives.

Interestingly on every short 2hr CPR Course Steve has run over the past 15 years for members of the public he has always asked “Why are you here?” as part of the course introductions. Steve has noted that the majority of people state that the reason they are here is because they have either witnessed or heard of someone dying and they felt that they did not/would not know what to do. Steve commented that whilst this is excellent, the analogy is closing the stable door after the horse has bolted… we need to get people attending courses before an emergency happens, which is what this advert is trying to do.

Matt, a senior registered paediatric nurse, who works in critical care for a leading paediatric hospital and delivers training with Resuscitation & Medical Consultancy echoed these comments stating that all too often parents of children who have been hurt discuss with him that they felt helpless when their child was injured, and the feeling was gut wrenching. Matt commented that they always then go onto ask about how and where can they do a first aid course so they would know what to do next time.

Steve commented that many people are fearful of first aid and they think that it can be a boring, stuffy subject that you have to spend days learning in a classroom watching hundreds of powerpoint slides and then watching each person have a go for 30 seconds each on one training manikin!. Steve said this does not need to be the case… we run courses from short 2 hour sessions upwards, and these can be delivered in your home, at the office, in a community hall, at times to suit you (including evenings and weekends). Each attendee on courses gets an easy to read, colourful handbook which allows them to refresh their knowledge whenever they want. Our trainers are all very experienced clinician’s and educators so they make the sessions relevant, interactive, fun and informative.

Debbie, a registered paramedic, who has worked around the world for over 20 years as a paramedic and now also delivers training with Resuscitation & Medical Consultancy commented that paediatric first aid skills are so easy to learn. Parents that attend her courses note that it is great to talk through what to do with such an experienced person who has seen most things in her 20+ years experience. Debbie says that by often delivering first aid courses in people’s own houses allows people to relax, and ask questions over a cup of coffee and perform some practical skills in the environment where they are concerned. All our courses are very informal and I want to be there for parents to ask me what to do if an emergency happened. I now really enjoy going back and seeing these families when I deliver an annual refresher for them; many of these families have now become great friends.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised within this blog, please give us a call for a chat. We are here to offer advice and guidance as well as deliver certificated training courses. Our paediatric first aid courses include;