Event date: 26 June 2022 

Attendees: Graeme Bell, Jo Mawson, Jeff Palmer, Darryl O’Neill, Tim Oh, Graham Thomas, Lawrence Glynn, Nella Santisi, Mel Sedmak.

Instructor: Kym Eden – Author of Fun with First Aid

First aid, how well prepared are we if someone collapses in front of us on the footpath, in the supermarket aisle, we come across a car accident, at work, our partner or your child loses consciousness?  A family member suffers from asthma; 1 in 9 Australian children do.  Australia is the world leader in asthma affected members of the population.  This DOES NOT earn us a gold medal.  But it does mean that 550 people a year die from asthma!  However, cardiac arrest is Australia’s major cause of death.

Do you know how to respond if one of the above scenarios occurred on your watch? 

How confident are you to step up and take control of the situation until an ambulance arrives?

Would you be overcome by fear, uncertainty and doubt and prefer to let someone else carry the can?  What if that’s how people reacted when one of your loved ones was the victim?

It’s a long time, decades, since I did a CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation] course.  It would have been 50 years ago at least; last century!  Yeah, go easy, so I’m in my 70’s, cut me some slack.  I’ve got three children and 6 grandchildren. I’d like to know what to do if they ever need crisis care.

Hands up if you’ve taken out the first aid kit in your BMW.  Do you know where it is?  You should, there’s a white cross on the cover of the compartment in the boot.  I can’t see many hands! 

True story.  A month ago, I took my kit out and spread out the contents.  I’ve had my car for a bit over 2 years, a 428i M Gran Coupe [Eat your hearts out ], 4 ½ years old when I bought it, 4 500 km on the clock.  Why?  And why did it take me 2 years to check it out.  Anyways, it was interesting to be aware of the contents.  Funny, but 3 days later, on my way back from my volunteering role, 8:30 at night on a chilly Mornington winter’s evening, I came across a car with flashing indicators, two women standing by and an 86-year-old, half on the footpath, half on the road. I pulled up, checked the state of play and rang 000.  We proceeded to provide Bob, who was very lucid, but with a painful hip and who couldn’t get up, with some warmth.  I thought, ‘Ahhh, there’s a space blanket in the first aid kit,’ which I retrieved, and Bob was quickly made as comfortable and warm as possible, considering the circumstances.  It was a bugger of a job trying to refold it, to get it back in the pack. 

Stop reading if you’ve never checked your car’s first aid kit, go and grab it and lay out the contents.  You just never know!

On Sunday 26 June, 9 of your colleagues attended a first aid and CPR course at National First Aid in Cheltenham.  Kym, a medic with 25 years’ experience, the last 10 as a MICA [Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance] medic, has suffered 3 heart attacks in his life; it’s in his genes.  For many of us, that’s the case.  He is such a laid-back guy but with a wealth of knowledge and wisdom, when it comes to medical support. 

He took us through the process for performing chest compressions on an adult, a child and a baby.  We looked at the process from both sides of the coin.  What do we do if we come across someone who is experiencing significant discomfort, has collapsed but is conscious or has collapsed and is comatose.  They may or may not be moving.  And then we looked at how the process works from the 000 side.

Kym took us through how to apply a defibrillator and he outlined how Kerry Packer had gifted 5 000 units to groups throughout the community; because one saved his life.  Kym had met him several times and holds Kerry’s contribution to the cardiac care of Australians in high regard.

The purpose of the defibrillator is to reset the heart.  It functions by electrical impulses.  The heart may develop arrythmia [it stops serving its purpose] which can continue for up to 10 mins before it becomes non-reversible, and the patient will be lost.  If we’re the man or woman on the street, it’s our job to keep them alive until the ambulance arrives.  000 will talk you through the process, they start a metronome, so you get the pace right.  Whilst that’s taking place, they’re scouring the data base to find the nearest defibrillator and arrange to get it to you as soon as possible.  If the patient can be stabilised prior to the ambulance arriving, you’ve done your job, and a good one at that.

Using a defibrillator is not all that difficult. It gives step by step recorded instructions on what to do. Follow the instructions and the defibrillator does the rest. It can analyse the patient’s condition and will advise if a second jolt is needed.

We all came away from the training with more confidence in ourselves and certainly the 000 system in knowing what to do if we ever come across, what can be a, a very confronting situation.  But if you follow the procedure, stay calm, reassure the patient if they’re conscious, do the compressions to keep oxygenated blood moving through the system and apply the defibrillator to reinitiate the heart’s natural rhythm, there’s a 74% chance that they’ll live to thank you.  For every minute’s delay in treating a cardiac arrest, the patient’s chance of survival reduces by 7% - 10%.  Without early intervention, the survival rate drops to 3%!  The message here, is get cracking, but of course remain calm.  000 has your back.  Australia is a world leader in recovering people from cardiac arrest.  The medical service is always looking for ways to improve the patients’ chances of recovery.  The key takeaway – it’s time critical.  If there’s no intervention within 12 mins, they’re gone

Kym also took us through other common medical situations.  Asthma attacks, anaphylactic shock – it mainly affects children, but adults are not immune, snake bite, stings, burns, button batteries and more.  If you have button batteries in the house [who doesn’t?], and you have children or grandchildren, you need a process for storage and disposal of used batteries.  If a baby/toddler ingests one, it’s likely to become stuck in their system and can have catastrophic effects on them, including death.  They’ll be restless, coughing, unwell, but you won’t know why unless you saw them swallow one.

As Baden Powell said, ‘Be prepared.’  Are you?  If you’ve never done a CPR course, we would all recommend you do.  You never know when, and in what circumstances, you could become one of your countrymen’s saving grace.

National First Aid 1300 099 297 - www.nationalfirstaid.com.au - have lots of resources available.  Books, Automated External Defibrillators [AEDs] and first aid kits.

Suggestions: Fun with First Aid and Handy Hints [a mini guide]

Graham Thomas | Member #534
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne