First aid

Legally, every 3 years. It is good practise though to do the course every year if you can spare the time.
 
Some fair points there, although as PASmith says, common sense tends be uncommon. Little things like the treatment of head injuries etc can be important.

In my experience the most common thing I have to deal with, other than minor grazes and cuts and foreign objects in the eye, are educating teenagers to leave their drunken mates in a safe airway position (saved a few lives that way), dealing with diabetics and epileptics. Often it is just making the call not to ignore something but to get the individual to A&E.

A first aid qual though is somehting I'd expect of every MA instructor.
 
To be honest i don't think it's very likely that anyone will need to carry out CPR , whereas skills to control bleeding , and as i alluded to with the "popcorn" video , being able to help a choking victim are much more usefull , i've certainly used them in the past.
I can understand the lack of leadership etc , as first aiders tend not to use their skills so often which is why i think Johns suggestion of training once a year is a good idea.



Can you explain why you think it's highly unlikely someone would use the recovery position ?
 
I put myself through first aid training from time to time - I did the 3 day course last year after not having done any training for nearly 4 years...

However as far as martial arts goes - sensible training protocols ... simple things like honouring tapouts, not making people do things they are not ready for - I remember getting frequent flyer miles at a ju-jitsu club where ippon seoi nage was being taught - and getting students to realise that everyone has limitations and martial arts training is about gently testing your boundaries not killing yourself... Those things should (famous last words) cut back on the need for first aid.

Next 999 or 112 is your friend - when in doubt dial and when you are sure that an injury is 'nothing serious' - dial it immediately !

As an instructor (IMHO) you MUST have insurance and first aid training - if you teach children or vulnerable adults then being CRB checked is a good thing (Not that it actually means anything other than you haven't been caught yet... e.g. the Harry Cook thread).

Last but not least, keep a first aid box to hand in your training place - prompt first aid can be useful even if it's only covering a scratch to stop it getting infected...
 
WHOOPS !!!!!

Just realised what I DON'T have in my dojo...

Just been on to Amazon and Monday will see the delivery of:
1 off St John Ambulance Alpha Workplace First Aid Kit and 1 off St John Ambulance Res-cue Mask

Here's hoping it's £26.09 that's completely wasted
 
Yes. my brother told me that if I dial 112, I get a sweet. But If I dialled 999, I would have his entire horde of sweets.
He lied
 
I can't find anything to support this, where did you get it?

The govt. doc on 112 adoption doesn't mention it - http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/ind_guidelines/emer1002.htm

After all, we only have 112 because of EU regulation... and the numbers shouldn't connect you to different infrastructure
 
It's taught on all First Aid Courses if a person asks why you should call the digital 112 instead of the old analogue 999. The calls connect you to the same place via a different infrastructure. If you call on 112 there is no need to give your location, it is automatically visible to the operator. If you call on 999 the operator can only see you if you are using a landline.
 
hmmm very interesting, however I can't find evidence of it via Google-fu** ... which surprises me given how literally life-saving this fact is

My gut feeling is to be suspicious of the idea that the numbers use different infrastructure, reassigning phone numbers is easy (software based), so I'd imagine that pinging 112 calls into the same gateway as 999 calls should be simple and not require new hardware leaving the 999 stuff outdated. On the other hand, stupid decisions do happen. On the other other hand, facts from official courses aren't always correct, as people who have encountered midwives can often attest :p.

*shrug* don't know what to believe. Thanks for bringing it up though


**Not a lazy claim, I've looked a LOT through a bunch of search strings
 
1 minute is getting towards prolonged, but remember in emergency situations time can be hard to judge. I'd say 1 minute of unconsciousness would be unusual though (and if you're regularly having people unconscious for 1 minute, you should really look at the way you are training).
However, by the time you've seen them go down,called for help, assessed their consciousness, assessed their airway, assessed their output and called for further help, that minute will be pretty much gone, so they'll be awake by the time you're starting to put them in the recovery position.
 
To be fair , the course is health and safety at work , depending on your job i feel it's a possibility.



Meh , i think we'll agree to disagree , if someone has been unconscious for any length of time it's not a good idea to have them stand up too soon , recovery position seems a pretty comfortable position to leave them in.
 
Read my original post again, I said "in this context". If you have to deal with drunk people or you have the potential to deal with numerous epileptics of uncertain control, it's useful, within the context of martial arts training it's much less likely to be needed.
For the second part, the whole purpose of the recovery position is to passively maintain the airway, if someone's awake it's probably an unnecessary manual handling risk.
 
Fair enough



I still think it's a viable option to leave someone in for a couple of minutes after "coming round" , but i can see your point.
 
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