The first few minutes that a person takes ill can be vital — as emergency services race to the scene, the actions of a chosen few can mean the difference between life and death.
Mail reporter Rob Smyth takes a look at two extraordinary examples of people helping others using knowledge gained at first aid training with St John Ambulance
CASE STUDY 1
WHEN Burton worker Claire Campion attended a first aid at work course, little did she know that she would be using her skills just days later to help at a road accident.
Claire, 32, from Branston, and her partner Joseph came across a car accident at around 10pm on September 17, just off the A50 between Derby and Shelton Lock.
The accident had only just happened and Claire could see that there was at least one person with a head injury, as well as people suffering from shock in the other car involved.
Having attended the St John Ambulance first aid at work course just days earlier in Burton, Claire knew they needed to stop and help until the emergency services arrived.
She said: “I calmed the gentleman down and attended to his bleeding head, while also comforting his wife and checking the three other people were OK.
“We made sure the emergency services had been called and my partner helped manage the traffic around the cars.
“We got a fleece from the car to keep them warm and I maintained pressure on the man’s wound, while continuing to reassure him and keep him calm. We stayed with them until the emergency services arrived.
“The couple were so grateful we had stopped and helped them and couldn’t thank us enough for what we did.
“The first aid training definitely kicked in and gave me the confidence to take control of the situation. It was a great feeling to know I could help someone in need and I would encourage other people to learn first aid because you never know when you might need it.”
St John Ambulance trainer Helen Baddeley said: “Up to 150,000 people die every year in situations where first aid could have given them the chance to live.
“Claire acted quickly and calmly to help in what must have been a distressing situation, and she is to be commended for her actions.
“It was very fortunate that she had attended our course just a few days before and that our training gave her the knowledge and confidence to know what to do.”
St John Ambulance teaches people first aid so that they can be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.
It teaches young people in schools, employees for their workplace and people in the community.
Some become St John Ambulance volunteers, providing first aid at events, acting as first responders to NHS emergency calls in the community, or supporting their local ambulance service.
As the nation’s leading first aid charity, it teaches more people first aid than any other organisation.
Each year more than 800,000 complete a St John Ambulance training course.
CASE STUDY 2
ANOTHER example of people showing their skills in action was when St John Ambulance volunteer Jenny Dunn used her knowledge to help save a man’s life at the Great North Run.
The 47-year-old, from Moira, is a member of Church Gresley St John Ambulance.
Originally from South Shields, Jenny had been keen to volunteer on her home patch and so travelled back to the North East to cover the event as part of a team of first aiders in September.
At the 10-mile point close to South Tyneside District Hospital, Jenny realised that a male runner had collapsed.
She and another St John Ambulance colleague, Ian Johnson, raced across to the casualty, and upon inspection, realised he wasn’t breathing and his heart had stopped beating.
Jenny and Ian immediately started CPR in order to restart his breathing.
This vital action maintained the man’s circulation and the flow of oxygen to the brain, without which the runner could not have survived for more than a few minutes.
The Red Cross Ambulance arrived on the scene with a defibrillator — a device which shocks the heart into restarting.
On the second shock attempt, the casualty responded and started to breathe again. He was then transported to the nearby hospital and a few days later was reported to be ‘doing fine’.
She said: “When we saw the patient there were no signs of life at all; his skin was grey and his lips were blue.
“So when we managed to get a response it was an amazing feeling. Because we were located so close to where he collapsed we were there in seconds.
“It all happened so quickly but, thanks to first aid knowledge and having a defibrillator nearby, we were able to be the difference between a life lost and a life saved on that day.
“I am so glad that I had the skills to be able to help and I would encourage as many people as possible to learn first aid, or to join St John Ambulance as a volunteer, so that they too can be the difference in their community.”
There are St John Ambulance units in Burton, Church Gresley and South Derbyshire which meets in Derby (adults) and Melbourne (Cadets) — there is also a St John Ambulance training centre in Burton.
For more details on training courses contact St John Ambulance on 08700 104950 or book online at www.sja.org.uk/training
