[Closed] How Many of us Are First Aid Trained?

Yep, first aider at work for about 6 years now.

A plaster and eye wash, (grit in eye) is the worst I've ever had to deal with.

I'm OUTDOOR first aid trained, and pedantic 😛

Appointed first aider.

Outdoor first aid cert and Mountain Rescue

Have done my TBL it's compulsory for it. Everyone should do something, problem is you do slowly forget if you don't keep it up.

Morphine and tourniquet trained, no worries

Me, I carry a proper first aid kit too, everytime I ride mtb.

Outdoor/BASP/REC etc 1st aid 2 or 4 day every 3 years, for the last 20 years here...

Yep, appointed first aider, doing my refresher course in a few weeks. Very useful skill to have IME, often because it gives you the confidence to act decisively.

Best usage was when 2 handed on a 32ft boat leaving a marina. My dad slipped and headbutted a winch 🙁 Got back into the berth OK but then went into medical shock and lost conciousness whilst leaking plenty of blood Kept calm and dealt with it effectively, which would have been unlikely without training. Priceless knowledge...

Yep, thankfully a requirement of the job, so all courses aid for by the company!

First aid trained, but not outdoor specific. Not sure how much use it'd be on the trails... Worst I've had to deal with? Panic attack. That's scary.

Battlefield first aid trained, you don't want me near you if you have an accident!

Yes - Geography teacher so needed for fieldtrips.

GB

Ballistic First Aid trained including de-fib.

More courses than I care to remember.

First aid including defib.

Sounds like quite a few, I was hoping this was be the case, I'm only trained basic compared to some but I feel I know enough to benefit, must start taking a better kit out though.

Outdoor thingy too. I've had great arguments with Mrs Druidh (trained nurse) about what should and should not be attempted as part of first aid 🙂

raccoon you sound like the man to be ridding with if you go down in action!

It's usually me that's down on a ride!

I'm fairly well trained (ALS/ATLS) but tbh if I saw you convulsing on the trail side with blood and teeth spewing out your mouth, I'd keep on riding as:
a)my riding time is pretty valuable and I'm never gonna get a KOM stopping to scoop back in your brains, and
b)blood and bone marrow is a right faff to get out of 661 comp gloves.....

DrP. 😉

Yes, with regular re assessments.

One thing being "trained" and another thing being able to use it correctly.

Ive see some bizarre things from first aiders, who haven't used their knowledge for a while, or make it up as they go along.

outdoor first aid certificate here. used it plenty of times to patch up clients on tour.

A while back as part of mtq1. We're trained to deal with electric shock at work but not much more. Could be tempted by an outdoor/mtb specific course.

I'm with Dr P, if your numbers up....

Trained Firt Aid at work and also Defib. trained.
Also ride with lads who are Trauma trained.
I always carry a small First Aid kit.

It's interesting to see the differences in approach that you get taught in courses which are aimed at different groups.

Outdoors courses that I've been on recommended reducing fractures and splinting them in a straight position, whereas the sport specific one recommended splinting as you found the injury unless pulses were absent. There were differing approaches to dealing with hypothermia and shock.

Full St Johns First aid trained, with 2 refreshers a year, always carry full (but small) first aid kit with me - dealt with Leisure Cyclist who had a nasty hand graze after coming off her hired bike on the rough gravel paths round Rutland Water about a month ago - does concern me the amount of people who ride without gloves / helmets

Yep. The job as trained me up to do airways and all sorts

So, what's the difference between indoor and outdoor first aid? Shirley first aid is first aid innit?

You dont get many people falling off cliffs indoors and conversely you dont get many people being electrocuted up a mountain.

But a fall from height is a fall from height and an electrocution is an electrocution regardless of where they happen. I guess that they just concentrate on the things more likely to happen in a given environment and focus on thems.

I always love my first aid training as they are never told the nature of our job as all our courses are in a cosy office.

FA trainer - Don't move the casualty.
Me - So we let them drown then?
FA trainer - Pardon
Me - If we don't move them they'll probably drown.
FA trainer - Why?
Me - We spend most of out time standing in or working near water often up to our knees and in winter often with a chainsaw in our hands.
FA trainer - Oh I wasn't told that.

Thats when they go into serve bleeding and drowning 🙂

Hmm, whadda bout indoor climbing walls and electric cable cars then??? 😉

First aid at work now but done various outdoor ones over the years.

Done dislocated shoulders, a dislocated knee, head injuries and basic bandaging for real but always close to help.

Appointed first aider. needed it for myself had a little off today on the red run at forest pines.

You dont get many people falling off cliffs indoors and conversely you dont get many people being electrocuted up a mountain.

Whilst I agree that outdoor, and indoor first aid are different, the general principles (i.e. ABC) are the same, so either is better than nothing.

It's DRSABCD now and you need AVPU, got to have the AVPU.

Interesting to observe paramedics when they arrive on the scene..
First Aider @ work for a good few years with yearly refreshers including scenario incidents. Defib trained, electric shock and Entonox pain relief gas 😀
Also trained as a trainer for RLSS when I was involved with kids school swimming club, not done that for a few yrs now 🙄

I have a mate who is a paramedic and he tells me that you have a higher chance of survival if you are picked up by an ambulance which has two technicians on it rather than a technician and a paramedic. He claims it's because the technicians will go for the scoop and run approach rather than the stay and play approach that the paramedic may take. Obviously generalised to the point of being absurd, but interesting all the same.

Every year with work, started with useful stuff you might come across in every day life now, fractures, catastrophic bleeds, tourniquets and basic triage

Me 😀 more courses than someone from Basildon with an Ask voucher....

My missus is a nurse/medic in the Forces and she suggested I went on a Red Cross first aid course specifically aimed at parents of babies and toddlers - I can't recommend it enough. She packs my bike bag with various military bandages just in case.

Used to be although never had to use it. As a chemist, we got trained in the usual First Aid at Work stuff but with extra emphasis on poisons and also courses in how to administer oxygen. I was due to go on a de-fib course but then I got made redundant...

My FA cert hasn't been renewed in about 5 or 6 years. 🙁

5 or 6 of us Brownbacks organisers, myself included, hold our outdoor first aid certs, although they're coming up to 3 years old i think so will need to be renewed.

Appointed 1st aider a work with Defib training.

Mainly have to deal with skin burns, irritation from concentrate chemicals used in high level disinfection floor cleaners.

Have done several courses in the past but they've expired now - I'm planning to do an outdoor first aid course in the spring.

However this is me in action the last time I had to do some 'bush first aid'

[img] [/img]

Numerous outdoor ones over years and most recently RTACC through work as its part of the job.

I've done both mountain and work first aid courses in the past but I'm lapsed now. I carry a proper kit with me when I ride. The most I've ever had to do is patch up my own knees!

*holds his hand up* Community First Responder with the Welsh Ambulance Service. Not done an outdoor qualification yet, but would like to in the near future.

I don't do scratches or grazes, but if you happen to be suffering from a gunshot wound, I'm a handy chap to have round 😀

Just RLSS/Scouts from when I was a kid and bit an bobs from work (should be doing the full 5 dayer next year though). I carry a small kit - and a phone.

Scary how few people when questioned don't even have this much though.

I don't do scratches or grazes, but if you happen to be suffering from a gunshot wound, I'm a handy chap to have round

In many cases MTB'ers become the projectile.

Boy Scout, got my ambulance mans badge.

Registered mental nursie, (only applied 18 steri-strips at work today!), AED and intermediate life support, and I did the 'general out and about' first aid course much like teachers/youth leaders do.

But a few years ago a few of us came across a 2 car, multi-casualty RTA very early on a sunday morning: friend I was with is a Naval officer and had done some sort of battlefield first aid training. Although I stayed with the most worrying (physically 'ok' but [i]very[/i] confused goldfish-memory) casualty who got airlifted away, RN officer mate was just brilliant - in terms of taking charge of several panicking people, managing the other 3 casualties and quietly telling the police that he felt drugs and alcohol were involved and where the driver had dumped his stash. 😈

You would be far better off with him than me in a bad accident!

yup, outdoor first aid.

Occupational F/A, medical gases, and AED. Was pretty handy this year at Emoor Explorer, came across a guy, head injury, breathing difficulties.

Used to work at a dry ski slope and dealt with loads of interesting injuries. Everything from sideways fingers, to fractures to dislocations, head wounds and panic attacks. Never really did much for them - just kept them warm and chatted until the ambulance arrived, or they got a lift to A+E.

Worst was an open fracture down at the five a side pitches and a smashed pelvis at the skate park on the same site. One other chap did a Derek Starship and apple-cored himself on his BMX bars, which resulted in a ruptured spleen...

The training has come in handy a few times when out riding, but mostly only because I'm used to the sight of blood, sub-cutaneous tissue and open wounds, which means I tend not to panic and just go into autopilot mode. It's amazing how comforting the sight of a first aid bag can be for someone lying on the ground in pain, with claret coming out of a scalp wound!

Standard "first aid at work" trained off to do an "outdoor first aid" to bolt on to my T.C.L in the Spring.

Love to learn skills that may make a real difference anywhere one day, but hopefully the skills wont be called on.

Get help from someone who knows what there doing, as quickly as possible.

There you go that's your first aid training.

Yes

no matter what the course its always breathing, bleeding, breaks, burns in order of priority.

Having had the conversation with numerous medically trained people my conclusion is to go fitted mainly for crazy bleeding incidents and shock when biking. Cpr needs no kit, serious breaks not much can be done and serious burns unlikely.

1st aid at work + defibrillator.

I'm a qualified 999 caller and let the professionals deal with it.

I'm a qualified 999 caller and let the professionals deal with it.

Yes, text book sarcastic reply.

No, advice from people who actually know what they are doing.

These days if you dial 999 they talk you through anything that you can do as a punter. If you can't get 999 then the person is either ill enough they will die anyhow, or well enough they will live.

the person is either ill enough they will die anyhow, or well enough they will live.

I have a mate who is a paramedic and he tells me that you have a higher chance of survival if you are picked up by an ambulance which has two technicians on it rather than a technician and a paramedic. He claims it's because the technicians will go for the scoop and run approach rather than the stay and play approach that the paramedic may take.

St Johns freebie (mainly for surfing)

had do do m2m twice now, once in sea, once in car park in middle of Dorset

Yup, Advanced Life Support trained (used to be an instructor) and ATLS trained Nurse and Remote Medic. Ive only ever used my skills once in anger in a bike related capacity..at a Sportive this year some dipstick without a helmet (is that a can of worms over there.....?) came off a road descent at 35-ish mph and consequently left a fair chunk of scalp of the tarmac. Spent an hour trying to keep him still, comfortable and warm and stem the bleeding until the road and air ambulances could find us...we were in a very remote part of Swaledale and it was thick fog and bloody cold.

I have a mate who is a paramedic and he tells me that you have a higher chance of survival if you are picked up by an ambulance which has two technicians on it rather than a technician and a paramedic. He claims it's because the technicians will go for the scoop and run approach rather than the stay and play approach that the paramedic may take.

On a side note to the above post...if i ever crash, i want Paramedics, NOT 2 EMTs. They arent trained to cannulate or perform ALS (nad least not around here), they are generally glorified first-aiders. Paramedics are supremely well trained in my personal experience and when it comes to trauma, they have more knowledge and skills than anyone i can think of apart from the military.

bruneep - Member

One thing being "trained" and another thing being able to use it correctly.

Too true. An incident a few years back involving motorbikes, walls and limbs highlighted this to me. One of my mates crashed and had his leg severed off. One of us had first aid training, but sat with his head in his hands shaking like a shitting dog. Me and another friend (with no training) kept him conscious and made a tourniquet out of my favourite belt. When the ambulance crew arrived they said we saved his life as he would have bled to death if not for our actions (insipred by watching war movies as a kid 8) ).

Talking later, we were both surprised how calm and collected we were. I've pestered my workplace for first aid training every year since - without success.

I've done a few courses and they're reasonably helpful.
I carry a first aid kit which is good for cuts n' grazes, maybe dislocations and has a few helpful meds in it for pain/allergies etc. Tick knife is the most used toy in the kit.
The courses are most useful for reinforcing the "common sense" stuff e.g. avoid moving potential back injuries, have a minor head injury checked out when you get off the hill, pressure on big bleeds etc.
CPR is worth trying I suppose but if the casulty is miles away on a moor the chances are they've had it.

I'm a qualified 999 caller and let the professionals deal with it.

When [i]exactly[/i] do you ring 999 then? In the example I gave and in another situation I've dealt with [i]not[/i] ringing 999 immediately and following the common sense approach learnt at first aid courses helped prevent further injury.

Sorry that's far too polite. When you've watched your own father's eyes roll back in his head as he loses consciousness whilst a pool of blood collects from the open wound in his face and still dealt with the scenario calmly and efficiently, then I'll respect your opinion. Until then, I'll think you're an ignorant ****er 🙂

OooOooh! Get you! (Seriously though, agreed).

I think the whole 'trained' vs 'experienced' thing is largely a matter of character; put in a stressful situation, some people flap, others don't. Experience and training both have a place in mitigating flappy tendencies, but never truely erradicate them. I've worked with some right flappy ambo staff, it's a bleeding nightmare!

Yep, I'm a bike guide so Outdoor First Aid course every 3 years. Used it loads of times as well. Patched-up a lot of bleeding people, put slings on quite a few broken collar-bones.

Nastiest one was an open fracture of the forearm (both bones!) - in that case my response was indeed to call for help and then not do very much other than keep talking to the casualty, make sure he was warm and wasn't losing sensation in the arm. Fortunately, it wasn't actually bleeding much, which I was very grateful for. Really didn't want to have to start trying to put on bandages/apply pressure around the ends of bones sticking out!

About all the paramedics eventually did beyond that was to give him morphine!

Interesting thread, anyone care to recommend a course for a casual mtber?

Thanks,

Not me.

I have a mate who is a paramedic and he tells me that you have a higher chance of survival if you are picked up by an ambulance which has two technicians on it rather than a technician and a paramedic. He claims it's because the technicians will go for the scoop and run approach rather than the stay and play approach that the paramedic may take. Obviously generalised to the point of being absurd, but interesting all the same.

Yeah that was based on an old theory published in America that proved to have very little standing. So much so that that all services are now pushing for a Paramedic on every emergency crew not the 75% that the recommended level is.

Experience and training both have a place in mitigating flappy tendencies, but never truely erradicate them.

Agreed. But there are an awful lot of people, myself included, who obtain confidence through knowledge. I had to deal with a casualty before my first aid training and I was not very effective.

If anyone gets covered in something nasty or toxic while out riding, I'm fully trained to give them a damn good wash!
[img] [/img]pic courtesy of Drac