I sometimes marshal on parkruns and competitions. Thankfully automatic defibrulatrors are becoming more common.
Last time a competitor collapsed with angina like symptoms in front of me I had no idea of the protocol to follow (my dilemma was made worse by having a GTN spray with me).
Has anyone had experience of courses on using defibrulators etc.
By the way the competitor went on to complete the race.
I don't think you need courses on how to use defibrillators. I've been to a few seminars (for want of a better word) and the ones I've seen being demonstrated actually talk you through what to do. They're amazing bits of equipment. With regards to the angina pain, as per my first aid course, a spray of gtn & if a HA is suspected add an aspirin for the person concerned to chew, not to be swallowed whole!
I train leisure centre staff - pool lifeguards, duty managers, fitness instructors, swim teachers and coaches - to do CPR and use defibrillators, as a Trainer Assessor for the Royal Lifesaving Society (RLSS).
It's part of the National Pool Lifeguard Qualification which I teach; the RLSS also offers a range of short courses on CPR and AEDs which can be delivered to anyone interested. Maybe your Parkrun marshals group could set something up with a TA from a local centre. The standalone AED qualification includes CPR and costs about £16 a person for a manual and PDF certificate, if you want to make things 'official', though if you don't care about the manual and certificate you could probably negotiate something cheaper and simpler.
Last Sunday, staff at one of the centres where I work were alerted to a woman who was taken ill in the park just outside the centre. The staff delivered CPR and used the AED; the woman came round before the ambulance arrived.
I heard about it the next day when the team member who did the compressions and rescue breaths, and ran across the field with the AED, attended the monthly staff training session in which this is all rehearsed. It certainly reinforced the value of taking the whole thing seriously.
That said, one of the points I always start with is that AEDs are designed to be used by someone with no training whatever. As soon as you switch them on/open the lid, they literally tell you (and show you) what to do, as does the call handler for the ambulance service. They are extremely safe: there are no recorded cases of any bystander or first aider being injured by an AED. (Though they are heavy: don't throw them at anyone or drop them.)
Any casualty who is complaining about chest pain does NOT need CPR or an AED until/unless they become unresponsive and do not show normal breathing (for a sleeping/unconscious person, this would be two breaths in 10 seconds). But I'd still call the ambulance for chest pains after exercise ...
Hope this helps - there are also lots of good online training resources around, if you look for them.
Thanks. Good information. The St John’s CPR 2hr course made me more confident if I was the first one there.
But the v simple instructions on the street defibrillators are designed for almost any anxious, untrained person in the street.
If you have a look on the BHF website, there is an online CPR training program that also covers the use of defibrillators. I haven't done it myself so don't know how good it is, but it may be useful to you.
EMboy gets my vote on this one ☝🏼- I’ve added the link to the online info he suggested.
It’s a wonderful thing that you volunteer 😊I am surprised the Parkrun’s don’t ask all the volunteers to have formal First Aid at work or Emergency First Aid training though, might be worth suggesting the link above in the first instance. Without prompt help; chances of recovery nosedive.
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