Tourniquets in 'Timbuktu'

Over the last three days I was fortunate to complete a Remote Area First Aid course facilitated by St John Australia. Because I have started teaching my own Outdoor Ed classes this year, I thought this would be valuable, especially for camps. When I arrived I quickly realised most of the other participants were freelance outdoor instructors or tradies working in remote areas. I felt a little inexperienced and out of place as a result, but knew to get experience you need to start somewhere! 

Across the three days there was some repetitiveness across basic first aid courses, which is never a bad thing! I liked that most of the second half of the course were hands-on practical demonstrations and practice runs of a variety of scenarios that we could be faced with though to mix it up. Although the scenarios were as realistic as they could be in an office space, I do think that the course would be much more beneficial, rewarding and enjoyable if they were actually based in an outdoor setting. I was hoping that I would go on a course like this and actually be camping / in a remote area. 

The most lifelike experience was a fake arm with an open wound that water could be pumped through to replicate blood gushing out. On this we needed to practice stuffing the wound to slow the bleeding and encourage a clot and then place a tourniquet. It was incredible how many gauze pads needed to be stuffed into the wound to even slow down the 'bleeding'. I can only imagine if you had to do that for real for someone!

There is an array of evidence to show that the more people know, the more confident they feel and the more empowered they feel to respond to a medical emergency. As described by First Aid Melbourne, "a study conducted by the Red Cross showed that a staggering 59% of deaths from injuries could have been prevented if only first aid had been given in the first few minutes of the incident before an ambulance arrived". So, even though I feel I still know very little there is to know about first aid in the grand scheme of things, every little bit helps. I've been lucky to only have been involved in a couple of responses that would be considered mild, and hope I never have to respond to someone in a critical or dangerous scenario. Therefore, I encourage everyone to complete at least a basic first aid course - please don't hesitate! 

I do hope to get the opportunity in the future to learn about more preventative strategies, as the last few days have mostly had a focus on responses. I have heard about a course based around preventing fatalities in the outdoors that I may try go to - watch this space! Finally, as I have previously blogged about, first aid is more than a broken leg - mental health first aid is another great course to complete.