First Aid at Work

I'm doing a First Aid at Work course this week. My office has just rearranged itself, and there aren't enough qualified First Aiders in the building for the number of people. I volunteered because I'm a gannet for useful knowledge, but now I'm feeling a bit alarmed at the responsibility.

Still, I'd rather know how to do it than not, and the office is paying.

I now know how to dress cuts and burns to the arms, legs, and head, and what to do if someone loses a finger or a tooth; how to make two different sorts of sling; how to identify and treat shock due to loss of blood; what to do if you have angina, a heart attack, a fit, a nosebleed, a blackout, an asthma attack, anaphylactic shock, a broken limb, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, a broken jaw, a head injury, a neck injury, spinal fluid coming out of your ears, heatstroke, hypothermia, hypoglycaemia, hyperglycaemia, or a sucking chest wound; how to tell and what to do if you've had a stroke; where to hit you and squeeze you if you are choking, and how many times to try it before calling the ambulance; how to put you in the recovery position if you're unconscious but still breathing, how to do CPR if you stop breathing, and keep you half-alive till the ambulance arrives, and in what circumstances to remove a crushing object, or a motorcycle helmet, or not to.

It's quite scary.

The only things I can think of that are actually likely to happen in my office are superficial burns from the kettle, and anything brought on by stress. I suppose there's always your basic nut allergy. Or someone could trip over one of those stupid laptop bags and hit their head on a cabinet; or put their eye out with their own pencil. Those could happen.

The exam is tomorrow. I think I'll do OK in the exam, but I'm not sure how I'll remember it all afterwards. Perhaps if I build it into my daydreams? With extra drama and a lively cast of characters freely adapted from real life?