On Thursday, local paramedic/fireman Brant Bice came to the Red Barn to teach and certify CPR to several of our staff members and a couple of volunteers. Though several attendees had been previously certified, the license is only good for two years. We were happy to have the refresher course.
The course primarily focused on CPR and the usage of AEDs. We also learned signs and signals for life threatening emergencies such as heart attacks or strokes. At the end we covered basic first aid procedures for breathing difficulties, controlling bleeding, broken bones, diabetes, seizures, shock, bites, burns, and dehydration. So there was a lot of useful information crammed into three hours of training.
This was my third time through CPR training, but even then I gained some new knowledge. For example, when a person is seizing it’s best to let the seizure run its course. And in the vein of a cool trivial fact, the Heimlich maneuver has been relabeled as “abdominal thrusts” due to the Heimlich family wanting to distance themselves from any potential lawsuits involving people injured by the technique.
Brant is a hilarious guy and did a great job teaching the course, so it was a very enjoyable experience. Everyone was joking around and seemed to have a good time all while learning very valuable skills that are necessary in this line of work. I hope the worst never comes where one of us has to perform CPR, but it’s nice knowing we’ll be prepared if such a situation ever arises.
-Connor