Two-Day
Emergency Outdoor
First Aid Course, run
by British Association of Ski Patrollers
Saturday 14th - Sunday 15th November
Text by Sarah; Photos by Caroline
I lay slumped in the driver's seat, a five inch gash on my right arm, a nasty bruise on my forehead, several lacerations to my face, and suspected internal bleeding. 'Ooh er' said Jim, turning pale as he opened the car door, and made a hasty excuse to find a less scary or at least less closely-related victim. But Clare wasn't looking too perky in the passenger seat either. A grey-white pallor and blue lips, and oh-oh, a suspected spinal injury!
But would our rescuers spot the clues and what they meant? Would they look for the not-so-obvious?
And would they remember to make the scene safe – check for other vehicles which might approach, switch off the ignition and put on the handbrake - before doing anything else?
We suspected by that stage in the course that our BASP (British Association of Ski Patrollers) trainer Mark Tennant must be pretty popular with the local kids around Halloween time, as he was a dab hand at setting up scenarios and adding authentically gory touches. And what an eventful weekend it had been!
Martin had suffered a puncture wound to his lungs, Sue had had an anaphylactic reaction to a packet of peanuts, Tom had had a stroke, and we had all made very close acquaintance with 'Annie' and her baby who seemed to need an inordinate amount of resuscitation but had remained unobligingly lifeless despite our best efforts.
I have to say I have never had such fun on a first aid course before, but also have never learned so much – seeing some amazing videos of people doing crazy things and guessing what their injuries might be, listening to Mark's tales about real-life experiences with his local Mountain Rescue Team, and taking turns as both casualty and rescuer in the hands-on scenarios was a brilliant way to bring the theory to life and lodge the key messages in our minds about our role as first aiders.
I came away with a much clearer idea about how to prioritise in an incident, got some really practical tips on how to deal with casualties on the hill and what to carry in a first aid kit, learned a lot about the biology behind the practice, and returned home with a great first aid manual.
Many thanks to Mark at BASP for his excellent training and for answering our endless questions, all while moving house the same weekend, to Clare for a perfect venue, and to Martin for bringing it all together. (And to everyone else there too – you can rescue me any time, you were a great bunch!)
Course participants: Jim, Tom, Andrew, Robert, Sue, Caroline, Sarah, Helen, Clare, Martin. (All passed!)