Knowing This can save a life..!!!

I did first aid as a guide (over 20 years ago), and it is one of the most worthwhile things I have ever done. I did an uptpdate course through scouting a year or so ago, and it was great.

As a learning support assistant, I was in a first year class a couple of years ago, when the teacher took ill. Her mouth had gone all droopy, and she was acting very strange - not wanting to leave the classroom (one of the worst behaved classes in the school), trying to get her stuff in order etc. We got her out, I rang for an ambulance, and let them know I thought she was having/had had a small stroke. She was taken to hospital, and has never fuly recovered. She now suffers from acute dementia.

Without my training, I would not have remained calm and collected. (I was a jibbering wreck afterwards, but at the time a calm came over, I'm sure due to the training!)

I think a dedicated first aid section would be invaluable - though not sure how monitoring it would be - wrong information could be just as damaging as no information...

 

Nathan. I think (as a retired medic) that a 'health' area is an excellent idea. I certainly don't want to get political but the health service is no longer able to be the same as it was 20 years ago. Nowadays if you dial 999 and ask for an ambulance you are likely to be asked to take a taxi to A&E. But how many people would even recognise a heart attack if they met one? They don't all involve people falling over clutching their chest.

My neighbour's adult daughter came to get me a few months ago because her mother was having an 'asthma attack'. It was of course a heart attack. We got her to hospital, (not by taxi), and she is now fine, but another neighbour (we're all elderly round here) just had 'indigestion' and pains in her left arm. Fortunately she mentioned this to me and a scan showed a mild coronary.

It is so easy for the layman to recognise these symptoms if told about them, and many lives could be saved,

So in a very small way let's help educate people as to what to look for (and they don't need huge academic qualifications to look).

 

just to pick up on something sarraceniac has written. If you phone 999 nowadays you are not likely to be asked to get a taxi to hospital, at least not in my experience.
A system has been introduced and is regularly being reviewed to try to ensure that the right treatment is delivered to the right person. At present ambulance services cannot refuse to send an ambulance, however trivial the call maybe. The call takers do their best to disuade people if they feel the request for an ambulance is inappropriate.(i've lost my house keys, i haven't got enough money for a taxi to get home and i live next to the hospital etc).

The problem is that demand on the ambulance service is growing and the service cannot keep up. Therefore, some services are introducing schemes that allow callers to talk direct to a paramedic/nurse/dr and occasionally they will suggest that other forms of transport be used to attend A&E or that a trip to the GP or pharmacy will be more appropriate.

I don't want people to read the last post and think, " i've got chest pains/slurred speech/difficulty breathing etc but i'll not bother phoning 999 i'll be told to get a taxi"

 

What does anyone think of NHS direct?

 

NHS Re-direct as it's 'lovingly' called by many in acute health services

 

glenw. No Glen I, as a retired heart surgeon, am certainly not trying to dissuade people from phoning 999 where necessary. Strangely enough I am also aware that an ambulance will be sent if necessary but lay people answering the call often get it wrong and try to get you to take a taxi to save on ambulances in case it is a false alarm. I am simply trying to point out that things have changed in the past 20 years or so when an ambulance was automatically sent.

Actually you have totally misinterpreted my post. What I am saying is that there are times when you wouldn't phone for an ambulance when you should.

Perhaps an area for talented amateurs is not such a good idea. They usually only want a nit picking argument to prove how skilled in medicine they are.

peterjrpowell1t's uses Pete and is a good way of dealing with a lot of ailments where direct contact with a GP is not strictly necessary. 'Dr. I had 12 pints of bitter last night and now I feel awful' (It happens). Many people want to see a Dr for things that are rather superficial.

If it just acts as a filter and refers people to their GP where necessary (and it should) then fine. But with certain symptoms you need a Dr - and quickly.
The problem is to teach people what those symptoms are. Thus my original post.

Of course I am rather old fashioned now and know that young paramedics outrank aging retired consultants,

 

sorry John if i've misinterpreted your original post, i'll re-read it. glad we both agree that people SHOULD be phoning ambulances but i disagree about the term 'lay people' answering calls and getting it wrong.
When a call is taken a strict protocol is followed where as each question is answered by the caller, it leads the taker onto the next question. The idea being that it will result in the appropriate response needed from the ambulance service. it is pretty much a similar set up to the one used by NHS direct. therefore, it is the system that is wrong, not the call taker. Every call taker is regularly checked to ensure that they are following the correct proceedure when taking calls.

I most definately do not want to start a "nit picking argument to prove how skilled (i am) in medicine". I know my limitations when it comes to first aid but can also assure you i am far from a "talented amateur".

 

IF YOU ARE SQUEEMISH TURN OFF NOW

I think basically we agree Glen. I am certainly not a medical snob even though I spent 15 years training and the person on the phone was given 6 months and a set of questions to ask in rote. I appreciate the fact that paramedics and nurses do a great job and are skilled people.

I recently had to have a colonoscopy (if antbody wants the prints please PM me). :D It was administered by a young nursing sister who was even more nervous about performing this procedure on a retired consultant because I said no to sedation. She was brilliant.

But I don't want her performing a triple by-pass on me. Get it?

 

Not knowing much about medical things myself and only having used the service once I have to say that I think NHS direct is a complication that people dont want in a situation when time could be a pressing problem.
The reply "A doctor will ring you back in a couple of hours or so" was not what I wanted to hear, and not very "Direct"

 

Getting back to Nathan's question, it seems that after the above discussion/s the answer looks like "yes please". While I do recognise the potential for misleading advice as mentioned above by sarraceniac, the basics of 'First Aid' ought not prove too controversial.

[ 06. February 2008, 11:01 PM: Message edited by: Dave W ]

 

Good idea Nathan bring it on, at times the first 3 mins in a major trauma are life saving with the best service in the world it could be too late, if you have the basic knowledge you can save lives,I have been in the situation on many occasions where my actions have helped to save lives.

 

See your point completely Pete. This had to be introduced when doctors refused to work not only long hours but also 'anti-social' hours. In the 90s and the 2000s illness has become a 9-5 thing for many drs.

We used to take something called the Hippocratic Oath. I'm afraid that has become the hipocrytical oath. Hippocrates did only private medicine though. There was no NHS.

 

:D

 

He had a way with words though.
Do Medics still take it sarraceniac? And did you have to do it in the original greek form or latin?

I SWEAR by Apollo the physician, and Aesculapius, and Health, and All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses, that, according to my ability and judgment, I will keep this Oath and this stipulation........
I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous. I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel; and in like manner I will not give to a woman a pessary to produce abortion. With purity and with holiness I will pass my life and practice my Art..............