Marijuana Child Safety Containers

 

 

This has to be a sign of our times - child safety marijuana containers!!!! Who would have thought it?

Such changes in the last few decades, a black president, homosexuality now part of main stream and the internet - what would our grandparents have said?

The legalisation of Marijuana for recreational use in Colorado has sent shops and users scrambling around to find packaging that complies with the states mandate for child proof containers. Concerns over accidental ingestion of Marijuana by children has prompted legislation in Colorado mandating child safety measures such as reverse cap vials on par with that found on potentially harmful over-the-counter medication. Although they have traditionally sold marijuana in packaging such as clear plastic bags, dispensaries that fail to comply with the new regulations risk losing their license to sell their product.

This big push for child safety is in response to accidental ingestion of marijuana by children in 14 incidents between 2009 and 2011. With the law in effect and the stores open for business, critics say that the number of incidents will rise if compliance with packaging regulations is not enforced.

I remember 20 years ago having to sack one of the children’s nannies not  for smoking marijuana,  as what she did in her spare time was not my business,  but because she kept leaving lumps of hash in her bedroom in easy reach of the children.

Suppliers nationwide are gearing up to meet this new need in the marijuana industry and ensure child safety. At last count there were twenty states with medical marijuana legislation and growing. With Washington and Colorado leading the way with recreational legalization, soon that number may be much higher.

It will be interesting to see what kind of creative packaging comes out of this!!!!

You pay peanuts you get monkeys

On Friday I had a conversation with the Manager of a construction company. I was trying to interest him in our Safe and Sound First Aid Courses that we run for builders.
"I am sorry," he said, "but I can get it much cheaper."

"How much cheaper," I asked.

"£50 per person."

"I would like to invite you on one of our courses as our guest so you can  how good we are at training." I replied.

I know that our training is just about the best in the industry. Why? because we are told this by our clients.  Many of them tell us that they have never been on such a brilliant course.

"I am not interested," said the manager. "I don't care about the quality, just the cost."

And with that the conversation ended. Well what more could I say? Except perhaps when you go out for your next business lunch, or a boozy night out with colleagues which will undoubtedly cost nearly as much as one of our courses I really hope that if something gets stuck in your throat, there is someone nearby that has attended a good first aid training course.

And I say this because  a few weeks ago a builder had told us that  had although he had attended a course through his company a few years ago and  he didn't remember anything.

The thing about first aid is that it is absolutely vital that you get good training.  It is not the most exciting thing to learn and especially if you are on a 3 Day course. I have been on one, and I won't name the well know national company, when after Day 1 I felt like slitting my wrists rather than go back for Day 2. It was so incredibly boring, flat, and the trainer had the personality of a newt. Actually I have no idea what kind of personality a newt has but I suspect it isn't very exciting.

If you have good training then it will stay with you and should an emergency ever happen and you need to call on these skills, you will remember what the trainer has taught you.

This is what  Simon Godley of 42 The Dental Practice said about our training.

“Everyone at our practice really enjoyed the  CPR training (which was a first) Marks enthusiasm was  infectious. His obvious "hands on" experience, depth of knowledge medical Emergencies and his ability to break things down into easy to remember 'bite size chunks' was really appreciated by us all. I could hear the nurses repeating comic little phrases he threw in and I'm sure they'll remember more because of it.I would highly recommend this to anyone who's thinking of booking a group CPR session for their practice.”

I think it is a sad reflection on our society that First Aid is so poorly valued.  Surely all companies what to ensure that their staff are safe and prepared should an emergency occur.  I believe that there are lots of good trainers out there but also lots of bad ones. An  old adage comes to mind -- you pay peanuts you get monkeys 

 

 

 

 

Make 2014 the year that you learn or refresh your first aid skills.  First Aid is not rocket science – it is basic and easy to learn and can really make the difference between life and death!

Imagine how reassured you would be to know that the person walking by you in the street would know what to do if you collapsed and stopped breathing, had a heart attack or started choking. 

In reality once the heart stops beating, you only have approximately 3 minutes without oxygenation before the brain is likely to suffer irreparable brain damage.  Therefore the heart must either be restarted or oxygen be provided mechanically by someone else, i.e. starting CPR. 

Safe and Sound has been teaching first aid for over 15 years and we have had heard remarkable stories of how lives have been saved by friends and colleagues and,  in fact, perfect strangers doing CPR. 

One of our trainers who works in an A & E department of a large hospital recalls a situation a few years ago when she was involved in the resuscitation of a toddler who had drowned in the family pond.   The accident happened in February, on a cold but sunny winter morning.  The two older children of the family went out to play in the garden, but didn't realise the toddler followed.  After approximately 20 minutes playing dad spotted the toddler face down in the pond.  He retrieved him and started CPR, as luckily he had been trained.  An ambulance was called and when it arrived the paramedics started more advanced life support and brought him to the emergency department.  On his arrival this little boy was significantly hypothermic and was resuscitated for almost an hour before his heart spontaneously re-started.  The little boy made a full recovery. 

The possible explanation for this was the fact that this incident involved cold water drowning.   If the child is profoundly cold, i.e. hypothermic at the moment that the child's heart stops his vital organs, in particular the brain, may be protected from damage due to lack of oxygenation, a concept often referred to as 'protective hypothermia'. But had CPR not been administered promptly the boy would have died.

When Jessica, a nanny, attended a Safe and Sound paediatric first aid course on 16^th February 2013 she had no idea that within a month she would be using her first aid skills to save the life of an 18 year old girl.

It was St Patrick’s Day and Jessica was in the West End with some friends watching the procession. Suddenly a young girl collapsed on the floor. “I couldn’t believe that we were in the middle of Leicester Square with thousands of people milling around and nobody went to help,” said Jessica.

“I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to do anything, but when I saw that the girl was not responding and not breathing I knew I had to start CPR. I felt very nervous but I remembered what the Safe and Sound trainer had told us on the course and just put it into action. ”

Jessica continued CPR for 7 minutes until the paramedics arrived.

“It was exhausting and it felt like I was doing it forever,” she said, “but it was amazing just how the training all came back to me. When the paramedics took over I was completely overwhelmed.”

The paramedics told Jessica that “without a doubt she had saved the young girl’s life.

 These are just a few of the very many stories that we hear about.  First Aid must be the most important skill you will learn.  It is not expensive probably the cost of a good dinner and which is more important? Don’t procrastinate book on to a course. Go to www.safeandsound.uk.net and find one nearest to you. Or call us on 0208 445 8998