Scott’s Spiel

I got an interesting email a few days ago looking for 3rd-5th years (oh boy, that’s me!) who have a valid First Aid certificate and would be happy to help out with teaching first years some first aid. The content is to include:

• Responsibilities of being a first Aider
• Personal Safety
• Regulations and Legislation
• Action at an emergency
• Assessing a casualty- primary and secondary survey
• Recognition and treatment of Hypovolaemic shock
• Fainting

Not a bad list (although not quite a comprehensive course) and it’s a big improvement from the maybe 30 minutes CPR that has been the norm for the last few years. It’s not clear whether CPR is actually included in the above (primary survey?) or how much will be practical work compared to lecture based.

Because I’m interested in this kind of thing and because I seem to be a tool for volunteering I’ve already agreed to help. Now I just need a timetable…

…ha!

So recently I’ve been contemplating whether starting my own St Andrew’s Section in the West End would be a good idea or not.

According to the regulations I only need 4 members to start a “Section”. This would be attached to a Company (would I have a say in which one? no idea) and if I achieved 12 members after it year it could become a Company itself. Honestly, I don’t see 4 members being a problem. With some decent effort I don’t even think 12 would be a problem. The problem comes when I try and think about the logistics involved.

• To hold meetings I’d need some sort of hall. This would involve money, probably around £100 a month.
• To train I’d need equipment. Equipment costs money. Storage is also a problem
• New members would need to undergo a full course before being allowed on duty. This cost me £60 to go through (probably not the best deal in the world). Could I pass on some of this onto the applicants?
• Income probably wouldn’t happen until a number of members were able to go on regular duties.
• Uniform costs.
• The time and effort involved, combined with me going into 3rd year, might burn me out.

On the other hand, there are a number of pros:

• I wouldn’t be annoyed at my current situation any longer
• I would be leaving a, hopefully successful, Uni society behind when I left. That’s pretty cool as well as looking good on my CV.
• I might be able to expand upon the training normally provided.
• There would be a much more social aspect, great for everyone meeting other people, etc.

I’m still not too sure. Theoretically it would be comparable to the LINKS aspect of St John’s ambulance which seems to work well.

At the moment I’m going to wait until I start back again. This way I’d be able to see how much time I’ll have and how much I can get annoyed about my current company.

T in the Park 2008 begins tomorrow evening in Balado. I will be joining festivities early on Saturday morning where I will be part of the first aid team onsite. I’m covering the hours of 10am-6pm on both the Saturday and the Sunday. Honestly, I can’t wait.

The atmosphere will be terrific, the bands will be awesome (any bets on whether Amy Winehouse will turn up?) and the first aid requirements are likely to be greater than any I’ve experienced. Because of that, I’m not quite sure the best way to prepare. At the moment it looks like I’ll be a foot patrol on the site which means the majority of cases I can probably send/escort to a first aid post. I do imagine I’ll be rotating around throughout the day.

Ideally I’d like a few (not too many!) cases where I might need to rack my head to think of how to deal with it. Interestingly we have a number of St John’s members from down south (particularly Leeds) who are coming up, a few on my shifts and possibly as my partner. This would be quite good, I’d love to hear about the differences between us. On the other hand if they wear the green uniform everyone is going to treat them like ambulance staff. Should be interesting!

I’d planned to do some live-twittering but we’ve been told phones should be off whilst on duty. I might manage to slip a few in during my breaks and in the evenings.

All in all, I hope the weather stays nice and that I don’t loose anything I need. Hopefully I’ll be enjoy myself!

In other news, I have 1 week remaining of teenage years. Ahhh! May be getting an iPhone for my birthday though!