Just a small amount of know-how could make a huge difference…

How to mend a broken heart.

Transcript:

First aid podcast

Hello, and welcome to Red Cross Radio. I’m Ben Stickley.
This is the second in a series of podcasts going through common first aid scenarios and how you could react to them.

For this podcast, as it’s Valentines day on Sunday, we are going to look at how to mend a broken heart! However your Valentine’s day goes, these tips might well help you save someone’s life.
We are going to go through a couple of scenarios. While you’re listening, have a think about what you would do. After each one, Brad Smith, a Red Cross first aid expert, will explain what the correct answer is:

Scenario one:
You’re playing in a badminton tournament and enjoying a well-earned break in the bar. All of a sudden, you hear someone cry for help from the court. You rush in to find a woman collapsed on the floor.
Brad, what would you do?

I’d remove any dangers and check the woman’s response by talking in both her ears and gently shaking her shoulders.

Assuming I don’t get a response, I’d open her airway by putting one hand on her forehead, placing two fingers under her chin and gently lifting and tilting her head back.

I’d then check for breathing for ten seconds by putting my ear near her mouth. I’d be listening for breathing, and feeling for her breath on my face, as well as looking down her body to see if I could see any movement.
Assuming she’s not breathing normally, I’d ask a bystander to phone for an ambulance and tell them to say I’m starting CPR on an unconscious casualty.

I’d also ask another bystander to go and look for an automatic external defibrillator – or AED. This is a machine that’s used to deliver an electronic shock to the heart to try and restore a rhythm. It’s a portable version of the equipment you see in hospitals, and they’re becoming more and more common in health clubs. I’ll tell you more about AEDs in a future podcast.

While I’m waiting for the AED and an ambulance, I’d start CPR – that’s cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (now you know why it’s so frequently abbreviated!) – which is 30 chest compressions followed by two rescue breaths. I’d do CPR until the ambulance crew tells me they’re taking over, the casualty starts to recover, or I need to start using the AED. If you are concerned about giving rescue breaths, you can just give chest compressions.

You can watch a video on how to perform CPR on our website, at redcross.org.uk/cpr

Scenario two:
You are at work. You have a colleague who’s over 50, smokes heavily, has a penchant for large lunches – well, come to think of it, he likes large breakfasts and dinners, too, and he has a total aversion to exercise. He starts to complain of central chest pain, which he thinks could be indigestion. This pain then spreads to his arms and he says he is not feeling well at all.

What would you do?

Brad?

This sounds like a heart attack, Ben. Especially if he complains of a persistent vice-like pain in his chest and it’s spreading to one or both arms. It could also spread to his neck and jaw. Some people can also feel feel sick, sweaty, or short of breath when they’re having a heart attack.

My aim should be to make him comfortable and take the strain off his heart. I’d put him in the ‘W’ position, by supporting his head and shoulders and bending his knees, using cushions to provide added support.

Can’t picture that? Imagine sitting upright on the floor, shuffling backwards to lean against the wall and lifting your knees up so your feet are flat on the floor. That’s the position you’re aiming to get your colleague in.

I’d call 999 and tell them I’m dealing with a heart attack.

Then I’d ask him if he’s allergic to aspirin. If not, I would give him a 300mg aspirin tablet and advise him to chew it slowly. Aspirin, unlike other pain killers like paracetamol or ibuprofen, has a blood thinning quality which is important in treating a heart attack. A heart attack is caused by a blood clot that obstructs the blood supply to part of the heart muscle. By thinning the blood, aspirin helps maintain blood flow and stops the clot from spreading.

More men than women suffer from heart disease resulting in heart attacks, and risk factors include smoking, high blood pressure, bad diet and obesity.

So there you go Ben – there’s a couple of ways to mend a broken heart this Valentine’s day – but of course I hope our listeners don’t have to use them!

If you want your own first aid question answered, visit our blog site, blogs.redcross.org.uk/firstaid and ask us direct. We’ll be featuring more scenarios in another podcast soon. You never know, your scenario might be next.

In an article on Reuters AlertNet, the UN reports that 7,000 latrines are urgently needed in Haiti to help prevent the spread of disease.

My colleague, Sharon Reader, is currently in Port-au-Prince with our sanitation emergency response unit. Listen in as I speak to her and find out how it’s all going.

Image © Joe Lowry/IFRC

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?

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.

This morning, there was the amazing story of the man pulled alive from the rubble, just as the search and rescue phase has been declared over. However, it’s clear that Haiti is not going to dominate the headlines for much longer, although it will continue to be a huge part of our Red Cross work for the following weeks, months and years.

The first thing I did when I got to work this morning, was read Sharon Reader’s blog. Sharon’s a colleague I usually work pretty closely with as her day job is in our London press office. But she’s also a trained member of our mass sanitation emergency response unit. She’s currently in Haiti helping provide toilets. It’s certainly not a glamorous job – and you can’t be shy to talk about things such as ‘wild defecation’ – but it’s an important job and as Sharon points out, it certainly makes you think twice before complaining about the toilets at Glastonbury!

As well as loos, logistics is another area of British Red Cross expertise. Yesterday, we sent two more logs delegates – Kenny Hamilton and Gareth Morgan – to the Dominican Republic. They are joining Emily Knox and David Stephens who are helping receive the aid that is being flown into Santo Domingo before being trucked on to Haiti.

Gareth said: “I got the call 20 minutes before Osprey’s v Leicester on Saturday. It was a bit of a distraction, but I said yes and I can’t wait to get out there. I’ve been following what’s been happening on the news, and also I have been in contact with some colleagues on the ground, and reading their accounts on the Red Cross website, so I know it’s not going to be tough but however difficult conditions are for me, I will be able to come home afterwards, which is a luxury many of those affected by the disaster don’t have.”

Kenny, whose day job with the Red Cross is head of refugee services in Scotland also had experience in transport and warehousing and was involved in responding to the floods in Gloucester in 2007. He said:“ This is my first international deployment, but I’ve done a lot of training for this role and I’m looking forward to going out and using the skills I’ve learned. There’s no better organisation in the world to learn from and use these skills with, and this is such an important cause. The fact that more people with logistics skills are being sent out to expand the existing team is a real sign that the flow of aid getting into the country is growing.”

This morning, another colleague is flying out to Haiti. Paul Jenkins will be helping co-ordinate the Red Cross emergency response operation. This means linking up the different areas of the response and considering all a community’s needs, such as linking where new homes are built to future sources of livelihoods, as well as access to safe water and sanitation, and providing people with the skills, cash or assets to get back on their feet. Read more about long-term recovery on our website.

Before he left, I caught up with Paul to find out more about what he will be doing. Listen to the interview.

Donate now to the British Red Cross Haiti Appeal.

Image 1 © Marko Kokic/IFRC

Image 2 © Lloyd Sturdy/BRC

Image 3 © Sarah Oughton/BRC

Sharon is part of our mass sanitation emergency response unit, joining the huge relief effort in Haiti.

Donate now to the British Red Cross or DEC Haiti appeal.

Image © Marko Kokic/IFRC