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