A sixteen-year-old teenager from Great Barr hit the headlines recently after helping a stricken pensioner who had suffered a head injury. Danielle Sweet put her first aid skills learned as a cadet with the Warwickshire and West Midlands Army Cadet Force to good use when she spotted a man in trouble. Alan Bailey, 66, had lost his footing and fallen over nearby. Blood was rushing from a wound at the back of his head. Coming across the situation, Danielle quickly told her dad to stop driving as the man needed first aid.
Moving and handling courses help teach people how to move casualties in the event of a first-aid emergency. Danielle knew the importance of moving and handling thanks to her first aid course knowledge, and tried to make the man feel as comfortable as possible until paramedics arrived. Thanks to a first aid kit stored in the boot of her dad’s car, Danielle managed to clean Mr Bailey’s wound, apply a dressing, ask him if he was on any medication, and wrap him with an emergency silver blanket to keep him warm whilst waiting for the ambulance. She explained:
“When we drove back from the cadets meeting I saw a few people standing around but they didn’t look like they knew what they were doing. All we could see was a man’s legs and I said, ‘Dad, could you turn around?’ A man was lying on the floor and he had knocked his head after falling. He had a big swelling at the back of his head and was bleeding and lying in a pool of blood. We do first aid at the cadets as soon as we start and you can then do extra courses. I did my lifesaver first aid course last year and I hope to do my four-star course, which is adult first aid, before Christmas. I said who I was and asked him his name. I asked him to turn over to clean his wound. Where the wound was it was difficult to put a dressing on but I did it, with another guy lifting him.”
“Alan felt better in about 10 minutes but I stayed with him and kept checking his dressing, as if blood had come through I would have needed to put another on and if blood had soaked that I would have needed to change it. We kept talking to him and my dad put his Buffalo jacket on him as well, until the emergency services came. St John’s Ambulance went by and came and they put a new dressing on and then the paramedics came about an hour-and-a-half later and we left it to them.”
First aid courses such as moving and handling training always come in handy when confronted with real life emergencies. Danielle reacted in a brilliant manner thanks to the confidence and skills she had gained on first aid courses. Anyone interest in learning more about first aid should sign up to a course.
About the Author – Sarah Makinson is a freelance blogger who contributes to a range of training sites, including St John Ambulance.
