Advanced First Aid & CPR

[Keoni]

Didn't want to clog up the Safety Meeting thread so:

How may people have recent CPR and/or advanced first aid training?

Me = yes to both (yearly)

[Cornholio]

Not recent enough. Mine are both about 14 months old, and I haven't had a proper mountain rescue/first responder class in 4 or 5 years.

[PlayHarder]

Have to keep both up-to-date for work, so yes.

[cj001f]

Yes & Yes. ..

[Ireallyliketoski2]

I take the red cross CPR course every year. I haven't had formal first aid training in a while, but I read up on it frequently to stay fresh and am comfortable performing it.

[Xover]

keoni,

glad to see ya start this thread; have been thinking over the last month or so to start one myself and get up on the pulpit a bit.

having an av 1 or 2 is not enough folks. what if you're out in the bc doing whatever and something happens (i.e. fall climbing, buried in slide, stumble hiking, etc.) that requires trained wilderness medical attention immediately (don't rely on the fuggin cell folks)? so what if you find your buddy and uncover him; it doesn't do you a damn bit of good if you don't know how to clear an airway, do rescue breathing, admin cpr, etc. finding your buddy and uncovering him is only 1/2 the equation - sometimes not even that much - you still need to get him breathing again, treat his injuries, keep him warm and possibly extricate him.

please, take the time folks to get and keep up to date at the very least cpr and wilderness first aid - both these courses will only take a weekend every 2 years to get and re-cert for and cost minimal $ - you might even be able to get your work to pay for it. or be real men/ladies, step up to the plate and get a wfr. good web sources for these courses are wilderness med institute and wildeness med associates. then if you're feeling really ambitious get some high angle rescue training.

[step down off of pulpit]

training/current certs i got:
cpr (adult and child)
wfr
high angle rescue
av 3

held in past:
oec (let lapse this year)

[Trackhead]

Paramedic 8 years: Fixed and Rotor wing, ground ambulance.
Nurse (Fokker) 5 years: ER and ICU
AV:2

[LAN]

We have to renew every year at work as well. ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) is what we do, which encompasses CPR and usage of the AED's. They figure if you don't know first Aid by then, you're shit-for-brains and shouldn't be there anyways.

As cheesy as it is, I like to remind my family and non-healthcare friends how to do CPR, because you never know when you'll need it.

[LAN]

Paramedic 8 years: Fixed and Rotor wing, ground ambulance.
Nurse (Fokker) 5 years: ER and ICU
AV:2

Hey Fokker, I didn't know you were a male nurse! (Kidding). We were at this quirky store in Seattle called Archie McPhee's, and they had the "Male Nurse Action Figure." It was pretty classic, but there wasn't a female version.

[Ireallyliketoski2]

The more training the better, Level II, CPR, HAR, FA, the more letters you can attach to your name the better, with that I agree, you want to arm yourself with as much power as possible. But I think it's important to reiterate that if you or one of your partners are caught in a slide, surviving it has more to do with luck than skill.

[Keoni]

Never had to use CPR, but I'm glad I know how if need be. I have in the past, pulled a couple kids (not mine) out of the water and I thank the fact that I had Lifeguard/Lifesaver training. Water is dangerous, frozen or not.

[yentna]

Yes and yes current....like has been mentioned, it doesn't take much time to get certified and stay current, not much time at all. I teach classes for the Red Cross, and it is seriously such a small amount of time to get such valuable skills. People come into the classes coerced by their jobs, bummed at "wasting" a saturday or a couple evenings, and they leave with the idea that maybe they could end up saving someone's life. How much it would suck to be in a situation where you could make the difference, but not have the skills to do so.

[m1e448]

I've got CPR for the professional rescuer and a lifeguard cert.
I'm hoping to get some PSIA level I cets in nordic and alpine this winter and some avy certs. Anyone know of any avy classes in CO this winter?

[ja_surf]

Got my wake up call a few weeks ago while Mountain biking in the SF Bay Area. Heard my buddy crash behind me, when I got back up to him, his helmet was crushed and he was laying unconscious with blood bubbling from his lips. Immediately I reached for the cell phone but had no coverage, I started to freak out. I had watched another buddy of mine (An ER Doctor) keep a guys airway open till a life flight arrived for this guy after crashing on his head during the Markleville Death Ride a couple years ago, so I tried to do that, a couple minutes later he came too. Luckily the blood had been running into his mouth from a head wound, not internally, it was hard to tell initially. After about 20 minutes he was able to stand with the aid of his bike to lean on and we walked about a 1/2 mile to a road, where I left him to ride back to the car. It was clear he had a major head injury because he kept asking me the same questions every couple of minutes. At the hospital he told me he really liked our waitress she was really cute! (A nurse taking Blood) and he told the Doctor he had been in a ski accident. He's doing better now but still has memory issues and has had his drivers license taken away for a few month's.

Any way I never want to feel that helpless ever again and have started researching class's in my area, anyone who spends time in the wilderness should do the same!!!

[SherpaStyle]

WEMT
CPR annually (for work)
Taking Level 2 avy in 2 weeks

[Xover]

where I left him to ride back to the car. It was clear he had a major head injury because he kept asking me the same questions every couple of minutes.

not to judge you cause you alluded earlier in your post that you have basically no training, but in the future please NEVER leave someone that you know or even think has had a major head injury until you have "transferred" their care to professionals.

[see the concussion thread for reasons/stories why]

[natty dread]

Yep, prolly done full meal deal CPR/ACLS on, hmmm, 100+ people over the course of my career, in people's homes, on the side of a road in a PNW rainstorm, in a restaurant bathroom, on a raquetball court, yadda yadda. Good idea to keep up the certs, just like retaking the avy courses every so often. There is always knowledge/practical stuff to be taken away with every class.

[grrrr]

I'm certified as an Executive Fire Officer. Does that count?

[summit]

Wilderness EMT-IV (/w NRP & ChemCas)
AHA CPR HCR
Avi I (unnoficial Avi II (c-card later this winter + possibly III) and various other SAR training including high angle)
Dive Rescue Internationl - Public Safety Diver (getting Ice Rescue Specialist soon)
PADI-Rescue Diver (for what little that is worth)
Technician level amateur radio license (vital for BC comms)

I think every backcountry skier should take a WFR course and have a HAM license and a 2m/70cm HT!

Posting from the ambulance barn even.

[iskibc]

Wilderness First Responder
CPR & First Aid (Urban, Red Cross)

Looking into the Advanced WFR class with NOLS.

[ja_surf]

not to judge you cause you alluded earlier in your post that you have basically no training, but in the future please NEVER leave someone that you know or even think has had a major head injury until you have "transferred" their care to professionals.

[see the concussion thread for reasons/stories why]

Thanks for the info, I'll check out the thread, luckly there was a couple up there on bikes that watched him while I got the Car, not sure what I would have done if they had not shown up.

[cololi]

My certifications have all expired. I certainly need to renew my CPR card. In the past, I had the following:
OEC
EMT
WFA
Avie 1&2
High angle rescue (this one is long gone. I don't think Icould tie good knots to save my life, Thats kinda scary)


I still pull out my books 3-4 times a year to refresh myself, but nothing beats practicing on dummys/other people.

[summit]

Xover: as a completely lay person or even lay resucer, what choice did he have that point since he had no way to summoning definitive care or evac further on his own without leaving?

[STD]

but nothing beats practicing on dummys/other people.

Sometimes this is one in the same.


my courses/certs:
OEC CPR Avy II

[seldon]

I haven't taken avy classes yet (I don't go OB unguided) but I'm CPR cert and a red cross cert lifeguard... though I think both lapsed last year. Should get one those...