FIRST AID
My introduction to First Aid was as a schoolboy. I have forgotten most of what I learnt in those tender teenage years, but I still remember the dummy on which we practised our CPR skills. I can even remember her name – it was Resusci- Anna! Luckily I have never had to revive anyone who has stopped breathing, but I still know what I should do in those circumstances; mouth to mouth resuscitation. We were instructed in First Aid by Harold Smith, He was not a teacher, merely a handyman, but he was very involved in St John Ambulance and anything to do with First Aid. He even drove the ambulance that carried my friend Bill to hospital when he got appendicitis. Harold had been in the Royal Norfolks during the war and was sent to the Far East, so he must have suffered terribly at the hands of the Japanese when Singapore fell. I do not know if his experiences as a PoW influenced his interest in First Aid. There was certainly no practical medical aid of any sort available to the working parties on the Burma Railway.
However the other First Aid techniques that I must have picked up at the same time have now left me entirely. As this was over fifty years ago this is not surprising, but I have been taught First Aid more recently than that. This is when I was trained in First Aid in 1986, when I took a course given by St John Ambulance. I even passed their examination. This was done in Aldershot, as part of my training as a Combat Medical Technician in the RAMC. I was in the TA at the time, so my attendance as a soldier-medic was short term. Nevertheless this should make me a super efficient First Aider, but as this is now over thirty years ago (and I have done nothing in the field since) the knowledge has deserted me.
The history of what is now known as First Aid goes back centuries. Roman legions had the specific role of capsarii, who were responsible for bandaging the wounded legionaries, and these were the forerunners of the modern combat medics. In 1774, the Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned was formed, which later became known as the Royal Humane Society, This spread the knowledge of basic First Aid. In 1859 a military engagement in Italy led to the formation of the Red Cross.
Apart from CPR, the only First Aid I now feel competent to administer is putting a sticking plaster on a cut finger. A tourniquet would not be something that I would be confident to apply any longer- how tight should it be, to stop the bleeding without cutting off the whole circulation? This is something I would once have known, but no longer, I might just manage a sling for a broken arm, but even in that case I might do something awful that made the injury far worse. Anyway, where would I find the cloth to make a sling? No, much better I leave such things to others. In fact at my stage in life I am far more likely to be the recipient than the administrator of First Aid. That is fine by me, but best of all would be to avoid the need for medical attention in the first place.
joemasonspage 