Why use a PAD Public access defibrillator. (automated external defibrillator) ?
Would it surprise you to know in the UK alone every year there are approximately 30,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA).
Would it also surprise you to know that the survival rate is only 8.6% where as in other countries such as Holland it is 21% and Norway is 25%.
This is partly down to the fact in the UK we are not very good at recognising a cardiac arrest. For every minute that someone is in cardiac arrest and nothing is being done the chance of survival reduces by 7-10%.
If there is an AED available the chances of survival are significantly increased as much as 30-40%. We must remember though not every cardiac arrest will survive.
What we need to do is increase public awareness and training in the following.
• cardiac arrest
• how to recognise it
• the need to call 999 immediately
• the need to start CPR immediately
• the fact that PADS can be used safely by anyone
Yes that’s right anyone can use a public access defibrillator. They are designed to be used by anyone just follow the instructions.
on the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me.
An aspirin and trip to A &E.
So Heart attack!!!! What do you think of when you hear those two words? For most Those two words fill people with Fear. As soon as you hear heart attack, immediately they think of death. Quite rightly because if you do not recognise the symptoms it can rapidly lead to a cardiac arrest.
What is the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest?
a popular misconception is that they are one in the same. This is not true, whilst they are linked they are also two different entities.
Heart Attack
A heart attack happens when there is a narrowing/blockage in the arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle itself. The heart like any other muscle in the body needs a good supply of oxygen rich blood to survive. If this flow is interrupted then the muscle cells start to die making the heart less efficient in pumping. Eventually if this is not rectified it will stop completely (cardiac arrest).
Cardiac Arrest
A cardiac arrest is time critical and immediately life threatening condition. It can be caused by a number of factors including drugs, trauma and heart attacks. A cardiac arrest is defined as the cessation of the heart pumping blood around the body.
Signs and symptoms of a Heart Attack.
Heart attack symptoms vary from one person to another. The most common signs of a heart attack are:
chest pain
Chest tightness
heaviness in the chest
pain or a burning feeling in your chest
pain in arms
neck
jaw
back or stomach
for some people, the pain or tightness is severe, while other people just feel uncomfortable also they may experience
sweating
feeling light-headed
become short of breath
feeling nauseous or vomiting.
grey looking skin
clammy
Watch how quickly it can happen, it can happen anywhere and to anyone.
these symptoms are not exhaustive and if you suspect someone is having a heart attack you need to ring 999 for an ambulance.
Treatment
Call 999 or 112 for an ambulance and tell them you think someone is having a heart attack.
Make the person comfortable,
help move them into the most comfortable position.
The best position is on the floor leaning against a wall with knees bent and head and shoulders supported.
This should ease the pressure on their heart and stop them hurting themselves if they collapse.
Give them a 300mg aspirin, if available make sure they are not allergic to it by asking them, and tell them to chew it slowly.
Be aware that they may become unresponsive and collapse before help arrives if this happens
If they lose responsiveness at any point, stay clam and open their airway, check their breathing, and prepare to treat someone who has become unresponsive. You may need to do CPR. Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation at a rate of 30 chest compressions to 2 breaths.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me.
The skills to make seizures not so scary…..
So this post is a little late as Mr Jingles and I have been helping Mrs KBT wrap all the presents for young KBT. Fighting through the boards of shoppers to get this years must have toys. Anyway here we go.
”Tis the season to be snotty tra la la la la la la la la. Yup as winter has set in those bugs love to set up home in all of us causing coughs and sniffles and generally unwell.
One thing that worries a lot of parents is temperatures in children when they are unwell. The main problem with the temperature is they can cause seizures in younger children (febrile convulsions).
To understand febrile convulsions it helps to understand the brain a little. In young children and babies, the part of the brain that regulates body temperature (the hypothalamus) is infantile and not yet fully developed. This in turn mean when the body has an infection the core temperature can reach dangerously high levels thus causing a seizure.
Nothing is more frightening to a parent than the inability to help their child. When they are unwell all they want to do is care for them. When a child has a febrile seizure although generally they do not last very long, the length of the seizure feels like a lifetime to a parent. This is further impacted when other symptoms along with the shaking/jerking appear. For example they may have stop breathing as the diaphragm goes rigid, with that the lips and face may go blue. Once the seizure finishes the go floppy. All of this will be terrifying. However there are a few things you can do in the first few minutes to help.
Firstly and most importantly TRY to stay calm for both you and your child.
Protect them from harm during the seizure.
Move objects that may cause harm from around them. Lay them on the floor if possible.
Pay particulate attention to protecting the head.
Remove outer clothing to help cool them down.
CALL 999/112 for emergency medical care
Tr and time the seizure (approximately).
Provide plenty of cool fresh air (fan for example)
Careful not to cool them too much.
Whilst help is on route. And once the seizure had stopped open the airway and check for breathing.
Look for chest movement.
Constantly monitor the child’s airway and breathing until further help arrives.
If you haven’t got a ha’penny, then God bless you!
If you hadn’t noticed Christmas is on its way, yes folks that means time to eat way too much, time to invite round the relatives and spend time with everyone. Appreciate the important things in life “FAMILY”.
With that in mind “Mr Jingles” has kindly made time in his busy Christmas schedule to Join us here at KBT First Aid Training as our newest “ELF” & Safety and First Aid instructor.
Starting on the 12th of December he will be posting one first aid tip a day to help us out until Christmas when he then has whizz back and start his own 12 days.
So we hope you will join us and spread the word. Let’s all be safe and look after each other
So it has been a while since we last posted, summer has passed, children are back at school and people have gone back to work. Life Goes on……….But what happens when life suddenly stops? more specifically when the heart stops! Would you know what to do? would you be able to recognise it.
Lets start with some figures and i am sure this will surprise you quite a bit. A new report, Resuscitation to Recovery, reveals that currently just 8 per cent of patients survive a cardiac arrest in England, and less than half (30-40%) of bystanders intervene when they witness someone collapse. (www.bhf.org.uk) Scary isn’t it? would you be confident enough to help someone who collapsed in the street? would you be able to help a loved one if this happened at home? A cardiac arrest can happen anytime, anywhere. Sometimes even the professionals can get caught out….
What is a Cardiac Arrest?
Many people use the term heart attack and Cardiac arrest interchangeably but a heart attack and a cardiac arrest are very different and are not the same thing.
BOTH are life threatening and can be deadly, but a heart attack and a cardiac arrest are very different. A cardiac arrest, also known as cardiopulmonary arrest, happens when your heart suddenly stops pumping blood around your body. this can be as a result of a heart attack, drugs, illness or from a traumatic incident.
Someone who has had a cardiac arrest will collapse unconscious.
Their breathing will stop sometimes it may be noisy or irregular (this is known as agonal breathing, if in doubt start CPR) , and they will be unresponsive.
When a cardiac arrest happens there is no time to lose, it is a life-threatening emergency and calling 999 is vital. While waiting for an ambulance performing CPR (Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) can help keep a person alive.
How to perform CPR
Although it can be very scary, you MUST remember what you are doing will be helping give the person the best possible chance of survival. Get yourself on a quality assured course become proficient in the simple skills.
Check for Danger – to you and the patient
Check For a Response ARE THEY AWAKE? TALKING TO YOU
Check Airway – Tilt the head back gently (Head tilt, Chin Lift)
Check Breathing – are they breathing (no longer than 10 seconds)
If NOT breathing Shout for help/Call 999 and start CPR immediately
Chest Compressions
Put your hands on the centre of their chest (one hand over the other) push down hard 30 times
Rescue Breaths
Tilt the head back, pinch the nose closed and make a seal around their mouth with your mouth and blow – watch for their chest to rise and fall and repeat. (Twice ONLY) then continue the cycle until help arrives.
In the majority of cases, the killer reason causing the cardiac arrest is caused by an abnormal heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation (VF).
VF is an electrical fault, where the electrical activity of the heart gets so chaotic the heart stops pumping suddenly, and quivers instead.
This CAN be rectified either by the Paramedics and now YOU. yes YOU……. More and more we are seeing publicly available defibrillators also known as AED (Automatic External defibrillator). If one is available get someone to get it and follow the instructions.
Unlike television people do not normally regain consciousness and get up after a little bit of CPR so do not be surprised if nothing seems to have changed whilst you are waiting for help. DO REMEMBER that what YOU are doing is giving them every chance of survival.
So today I was contacted by one of my students who completed her 3 day first aid at work course in February. Why did she contact me? Well I shall tell you. Today she had to put into practice her skills to help her partner who had decided it would probably be best to separate two frozen burgers with the biggest knife in the kitchen. Yes, I can hear you all now, fantastic idea and I am sure he will learn from this (we hope) 😂😂
So here we are sat at home and my loving partner decided to cook me dinner, when suddenly, all hell broke loose. Blood everywhere and a very worried and panicked looking man feeling a little dizzy and a little faint looking quite grey.
A quick check for danger, clearly responding and breathing (just it seemed as he dramatically Declared his upcoming demise).
A couple of rotations a quick costume change and I became his hero…..that’s right! he had no idea that the love of his life was also FIRST AID WONDER WOMAN.
So, First Aid Wonder Woman’s new skills kicked in (never did she think she would have to use them to save his life). She quickly sat him down and exposed the wound to examine it, assess the damage and get him to elevate it and put pressure on whilst she dipped into her First Aid Wonder bag and pull out a suitable in date sterile clean dressing to put on to keep it clean and try and stem the bleeding.
Once this was done First Aid Wonder Woman gently reassured her traumatised man, showed him care and empathy before treating him to a trip in the First Aid Wonder car
They raced down to her friends at the superhero center (commonly known as HOSPITAL). Whilst there they cared for him, fixed him and complimented First Aid Wonder Woman on her swift and expert treatment.
They returned home and now First Aid Wonder Woman cooks the burgers just to be on the safe side.
This shows that having the skills and knowledge can go a long way but more importantly the CONFIDENCE to do something is what counts. First Aid at Work training can be applied anywhere and with this knowledge my student said she felt empowered to take control, she “knew exactly what to do”
KBT FIRST AID TRAINING 