Red Cross Blogs

Event first aid podcast: could you?

By Katrina Crew
January 28, 2010 at 10:49 am

We teach people life-saving first aid skills in the hope that your community will be able to withstand an emergency or crisis – whether that’s your sister, your best friend, a neighbour, or a stranger.

Our volunteers also provide vital first aid cover at many local events such as football matches, festivals and exhibitions.

Could you help someone in need?

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Image © Anthony Upton/British Red Cross

Transcript:

[Intro quotes - READ BY VARIOUS VOICES]
“First aid is something I had always wanted to do.”
“I wanted to be sure I could look after my family.”
“You meet new friends and get to know each other.”
“It’s a chance to help people.”

[Carla Dow]: The British Red Cross helps people in crisis. Our volunteers respond to conflicts, natural disasters and individual emergencies. But what people are less aware of is the work we do here on your doorstep.

We teach people life-saving first aid skills in the hope that your community will be able to withstand an emergency or crisis – whether that’s your sister, your best friend, a neighbour, or a stranger.

Our volunteers also provide vital first aid cover at many local events such as football matches, festivals and exhibitions.

At events in Surrey, Hampshire and on the IoW this year, our first aid volunteers helped nearly 1,200 people. Could you help someone in need?

[Jay]: Hello my name’s Jay. I heard about the Red Cross through the Red Cross website when I was searching for volunteer organisations and it was something that appealed to me, so I went along and really enjoyed myself… and then I was offered the chance of a first aid course.

The actual training itself for the first aid was conducted over two weekends. It went through the basic theory of first aid, starting off with basic CPR and then working through. To end, we did casualty simulation just for fun so we set up scenarios – it was a riot – looking at the signs, symptoms and using what you had learnt over the past few days and putting it all into practise.

It’s a skill that everybody should have, especially something like basic first aid because you don’t know when you’re going to need it. It’s something that’s not very complex – most people could do it so I think it is important. The more people that have it the better; the more lives could potentially be saved.

[Carla]: Jay has found that being a first aid volunteer at events is a great way to keep his skills up to date, but  it also has some unexpected benefits.

[Jay]: There are a lot of events that come up that I would go to purely for the fact that I would never, never go to them on a normal basis – something like the dog show. I’d never go to a dog show, I’ve got no interest in going to see dogs prancing and be paraded but it’s something that I’ve done and I enjoyed it; I’d go again next year when the event comes up. So it does give you a great opportunity to go and do things you normally wouldn’t do or think of doing.

Generally we’ll meet once a week and that really only does consume two hours. But it doesn’t really bite into my time that much. Two hours is nothing. It’s a great chance to catch up with people and the group’s very mixed and it gives me the chance to interact with people I wouldn’t normally do socially.

Initially, it was to learn a new skill and to volunteer, but now it’s more of the social aspect – you meet some great people. When you go away and you do duties, you’ll meet people that you then network with. In effect, it’s like Facebook, but it’s in reality. That’s one of the key reasons why I remain a member.

One of the surprises for me – as someone who’s 26 and come into the Red Cross – I was quite taken aback at how mixed and diverse it was. But more astounded at how many people were actually of my age group and with the same interests as myself. Outside, away from the Red Cross, I’m still friends with a lot of these people we do go out and socialise.

[Carla]: Without volunteers we would never be able to give people the help they need in a crisis. Because we offer so many services across the UK, we depend on people who generously give up their time to help others.

But it’s not all one way. Our volunteers also get a lot out of their roles, whether that’s an enriched social life, boosted first aid knowledge or practical work experience to further their careers.

What could you get out of it? What could you give?

[Rachel]: I’m Rachel Poole, I’ve volunteered with Red Cross for about three years now. When I was about 15, I thought about first aid because I had the intention of going to medical school so I thought it might be quite a useful thing.

Once you get to about 16, 17 your school starts saying “UCAS statement”, which is the personal statement you have to write for applying to university. They like to see things that you’ve done in the community outside of your academic studies. Volunteering shouldn’t just be done because of the UCAS statement but it definitely helps. If you have the time and the energy and the inclination to put into it, then it’s definitely something you can put down.

I did a standard first aid course, which was several Monday nights. Then we had a karate duty, which, in my opinion, is the best duty – you get to practise your first aid skills and you have to be really organised and know what you’re doing and know what other people are doing and it’s quite a team effort. So I went to that with a really experienced first aider and she encouraged me and gave me support when I needed it but let me also practise my skills. She didn’t take over; she let me go out practise, do what I could do but then if I was unsure she supported me. Then I just did more events from there and then more training.

You do meet a lot of other people of different ages, different backgrounds, so it’s really good to get to know a variety of people.

[Carla]: Rachel has found that being a first aid volunteer has challenged her in many ways.

[Rachel]: I’ve recently been training for the IHCD ambulance qualification, and as part of that I went out on one of the Red Cross ambulances where we help out the South East Coast Ambulance service. We were asked to take a psychiatric patient from his home into hospital because the doctor had advised that he be admitted there. It was quite nerve wracking trying to think about what to talk about with this patient because the important thing about first aid is not just treating the injury – it’s helping and supporting the person. I wanted to talk to him and find out more about his life.
 
I didn’t know if he would think I was being intrusive or nosy so I was worried about finding the right balance. When I was at the hospital and we’d developed a rapport – talking about what he’d done in his life – his mum, who was obviously devastated to see her son in this state, encouraged me and said that this is really good; it’s amazing to see him talk like this; he hasn’t talked like this for a while. It just made me feel so good that I could help this person bring out the best in himself and his mum to see bits of his old self. So I think, while it was one of the most ‘what do I do’ situations, it was also the most confidence raising at the same time.

The best thing about the Red Cross – well, it’s really quite hard to pick one thing. I think it’s learning the first aid and then being able to use it at events.

The ambulance support is also a lot of fun and you’re using advanced skills, not just basic first aid, but you’re really building on your skills and learning things that will stand you up for life.

[Carla]: Our volunteers save and change lives. Without them, we simply would not be able to help people in crisis every year.

Anyone can volunteer. It doesn’t matter what your skills, experience or background is, there will be something to suit you.

Could you save a life? Could you change yours?

[End quotes by Jay and Rachel]
If I was in the pub one day and someone had a suspected heart attack, I could help them.
I know if my grandma had a heart attack or fell over, I could deal with it.
If I was walking down the street one day and I came across someone having a asthma attack, I’d be able to calm them down and reassure them.
I know if I was in a restaurant and someone starting choking I could deal with it.

[Carla]: If you’d like to make a life-saving difference when someone needs it most, visit our website at redcross.org.uk/eventvolunteer.

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Tags: event first aid, first aid course, volunteer

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 10:49 am and is filed under First aid, Podcasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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