Life-Saving Skills

This past week-end I went to a Family First Aid training session at a friend's house. The instructor was an emergency nurse and first aid trainer who also has a seven-month-old. The training we received was GREAT and made me feel a lot more confidant to know what to do in an emergency situation. We got trained on CPR, choking, stitches (does it need stitches or not), asphyxiation (including how to use an epi pen), fever, and poison. It was 2 hours long and it was $20/person. Very much worth it! I'll fill you in on a couple of things that I learned.

Choking: They say you can use this method on a child up to the age of 1, but really you can use it on anybody you can flip over your leg and hold upside down. You flip them over your leg, hold them upside down under their chin, and hit them between the shoulder blades 5 times with the palm of your hand. If that doesn't work, which it usually does, you flip them onto their back and use 2 fingers to press 5 times between their nipples. Repeat if necessary. Heimlich maneuver (to be used on anybody over the age of 1): Make a fist, put your other hand on top, find the soft spot right above their belly button and press in and up. If the person is just having regular choking and still able to breathe, you are not supposed to touch them or pat them on the back. Hitting them on the back could force it further down the airway which leads to serious choking. You are supposed to let them work it out on their own. SO hard to do with my own child as my instinct is to pat them on the back, but I will try to remember that in the future.

CPR: I did not know this, but the purpose of CPR is to force oxygen up into the brain. Brain cells die after 10 minutes and never replace themselves. The heart, on the other hand, can survive 10 hours after a person stops breathing. The same amount of breaths and compressions are used on a child as an adult. For an infant, you plug their nose, breathe into their mouth, and then using 2 fingers, press between their nipples 30 times. You need to press about 1/2 an inch down in order for it to work properly. Repeat over and over until the ambulance arrives. It's the same for a child or an adult, except you use the palm of your hand instead of 2 fingers for chest compressions and you need to press about 2 inches down for it to work. We got to practice these things on baby and adult-sized dolls and it was actually quite tiring especially when practicing on an adult-sized doll.

I hope to never have to use any of the things I learned, but I'm glad I have this knowledge at the same time. My Mom came with me, so I'm glad that both of my main baby-sitters have had this training. Jared's step-mom has gotten this training in the past due to her previous job and she's my other main baby-sitter. If I forget, I have a fridge magnet that has a very abbreviated version of what I just told you. Well, I'm off to save the world....or take a shower.