– by Doreen Marion Gee –
What would you do if your best friend fell, hit their head and stopped breathing in your presence? Would you be able to keep them alive until the ambulance arrived? At any time in our lives, those types of tough questions can become a brutal gut-wrenching reality. Fortunately Panorama Recreation Centre has programs to give you the skills to be proactive and effective in a medical emergency. They will train you to be a guardian angel.
There are only a few critical minutes after breathing and blood-flow stop following a life-threatening incident. According to Dan Ovington, Panorama’s Aquatic Coordinator, the basic principle of many medical emergencies is that “the oxygen is cut off for some reason.” The First Aid courses at Panorama Recreation Centre give people the essential tools to keep victims alive during that small window of opportunity. Panorama also has valuable life-saving miracle-workers on hand – “automated external defibrillators” (AEDs) that diagnose a life-threatening problem and apply electric current to re-establish a normal heart rhythm. Dan: “All of our first-aid courses include certification on the AED. The early advanced care is really what saves people’s lives! When we do CPR, we are essentially keeping the blood and oxygen circulating but the chances of actually restarting someone’s heart without an AED is very unlikely.” The AED performs that life-saving function so rescuers don’t have to wait until the ambulance arrives. Dan explains the urgency of a timely response: “The longer somebody goes without oxygen, the more potential there is for brain damage, increasing the chances of non-resuscitation – so the faster we can get an AED on someone, the higher the chance of survival.” Effective use of an AED fast forwards and maximizes survival with less harm to the body and brain.
Dan believes that everyone should have the life-saving knowledge provided at Panorama. “Our goal with our First Aid courses is to train more people out in the community. And with the AEDs, people can step into action in any situation.” Plus, CPR plays a very important and vital role in prolonging life until help arrives.
Panorama Recreation Centre offers ongoing First Aid training courses all year to suit every need in the community. This fall, there are courses in CPR Certification and Standard First Aid (with CPR) for people who want a more in-depth understanding of medical emergencies. Dan recommends re-certification every year for both categories – also provided at Panorama. In the new Panorama brochure are courses on Emergency First Aid with CPR, Emergency First Aid for infants and children and Occupational First Aid. Hey, Panorama even has First Aid training to help Rover until the vet arrives!
Do you want to be a guardian angel?
Contact: www.crd.bc.ca/panorama.
