first aid training

Cardiac arrest or heart attack?

They’re both deadly, but would you know which was which in an emergency?

Of all the medical conditions, cardiac arrest and heart attacks are perhaps the best known and least understood. Here’s the problem:

1. Both can quickly prove fatal.
2. They each require radically different treatments.
3. Most people don’t know the difference between them.

To help explain things, let’s use a simple car analogy. Imagine you’re driving a car and the fuel pipe feeding petrol to the engine becomes blocked, leading the vehicle to splutter and not work properly. This, basically, is a heart attack. More

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First aid belongs at work

Given an impending change to British law, Joe Mulligan, our head of first aid education, argues that first aid training in the workplace is more important than ever.

The times are indeed a-changin’. Traditionally, any organisation wanting to provide first aid training in workplaces has had to first get approval from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

But it now looks likely that, in October, the government will rubber-stamp a new law that means employers will be free to choose any first aid training company they like. More

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French students in stomach bug outbreak

Volunteers respond to help French students

Zut alors! Red Cross volunteers are used to responding to all kinds of crises – but even they raised their eyebrows last night after being called out to help two coachloads of French students hit by a virulent stomach bug.

Yesterday evening, around 90 exchange students from France rolled up at Warwick Hospital in two coaches. Around a third of them were quite poorly – four had to be admitted to the children’s ward – and the rest camped out on the coaches.

Given the infectious nature of the mass ailment, hospital staff sensibly opted to house les etudiants in a secluded area away from the main hospital building.

They also called the Red Cross, who immediately raced out to set up 90 camp-beds and provide loads of blankets, inflatable pillows and hygiene packs. Four volunteers with enhanced first aid training also went along to help the hospital staff.

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The Twilight Zone first aiders

Hero first aiders: Becky Heath and Dom Potter

Now, as much as this tale sounds like something out of spooky sci-fi series The Twilight Zone, I assure you it’s all true. Here’s what happened.

One day recently, charity worker Becky Heath walked into bustling Kentish Town tube station in London and spotted an injured lady in her sixties sprawled on the ground. Becky, who has done first aid training with the Red Cross, went over to help the station manager attending her.

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Mobile first aid app hits a million

That’s not bad for something which only launched last Christmas – the British Red Cross’ first aid app has now seen over a million downloads.

And since people across the globe are just now preparing to celebrate World First Aid Day (8 September), the timing couldn’t be better.

The app – available for free on Apple, Android and Blackberry devices – has been hugely popular both in the UK and the United States. It features simple advice on 18 first aid scenarios, as well as tips on how to prepare for emergencies.

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Not for the faint hearted

First aiders Anthony Higgins and Christopher Wallace at the scene of the incident

A funny thing happened on the way to lunch today.

Walking through Liverpool Street station, I saw two Red Cross volunteers striding purposefully towards an exit. (The Red Cross is providing first aid cover at major London train stations during the Olympics.) Donning my deerstalker, I followed at a discreet distance. Within seconds, we all saw the same thing: a woozy-looking teenager sat on the pavement surrounded by police officers, rail staff and a sizeable crowd.

What happened next was impressive. The crowd parted and the two volunteers got straight on with assessing and treating their groggy casualty. By this point, there was a big gathering of nosey beggars (including me) craning our necks for a better view, but they weren’t fazed at all and got on with their medical checks, calmly talking to their charge all the time.

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