Another option for learning basic first aid and getting PAID to do so, is the Army Reserve Medical services who will pay approx £1599.52 if you pass their basic 2 week first aid course.

Further opportunities to get paid to train for being a EMT or Paramedic are available as well as ILS, ALS, PILS courses if you have the pre course requisite.


army.mod.uk/med…spx navigate to the Reserve Medical services

I'm a junior doctor in the NHS and I'd highly recommend all members of the public have some basic life-support training.

One of the main reason out of hospital cardiac arrests have such a poor survival rate is that so few members of the public know how to do CPR or, if they do know how to do it, are not very good.

This sort of stuff really does save lives!

CPR is **** simple as that. Spend more time learning how to eat healthy then you won't get some goon trying in vain to resuscitate you on the street. This is a very unpopular view, but CPR is a waste of time, don't bother learning it. The actual stats are 2% effectiveness. Put more effort in to getting more first responders and not whacko science. CPR is for movies and fairytales.

I'm not a troll. I just laugh whenever you've got pretty much everyone saying what a fantastic cause it is, then one idiot pipes up saying 'it should be in freebies', like that actually even matters one iota in the grand scheme of things...

okay a week old.........so not worth posting a **** reply troll. move on

as a doctor... yes a medical one....
when I go to someone who has collapsed inside or outside a hospital, CPR is the first thing that needs to be done.

a lot has been said by some obviously very clever people about rhythms and the like and I'm not going to argue with any of it. but the main point is if someone collapses and there is no pulse then CPR is what I would do, it is what I would want someone to do for me. Sod the AED just do amazing CPR and you are doing the right thing, someone with more toys can sort the rest but there is no replacement for good CPR.

I adore people learning it.

If you want to be smug go look at the resus council website but for 90% of people just learn to do CPR and we would be grand!

The deal isn't even a week old, so...

Yup there's always one that responds to a comment 2 weeks after its posted............

There's always one...

and theres heat from me, just coz i is living in bedford to. :smile:

here's a brief history CPR
news.heart.org/cpr…ry/

Smartass

Just to correct a few of the posts here:

Not all rhythms that cause someone to have a cardiac arrest (i.e. Lose their circulation and have no pulse) can be treated by shocking with a defibrillator.

CPR is the bread and butter of ALL resuscitation for cardiac arrest situations.

If someone has no pulse, high quality CPR continuously - any interruption in CPR for even a few seconds drastically reduces the chance of the persons circulation returning.

Learn it. Save a life.

CPR is part of using defibs. Also there are still not many around, if they are can take a while to go get & if it happens at home etc where one is not available CPR alone can save lives. Also sometime people collapse due to respiratory arrest or even choking & CPR is best chance to keep them alive before further help can get there.

Please do not listen to this & go get lesson in CPR. It can save lives. More people who learn the better chance of survival. Think it should be taught in schools.

I understand your reasoning but saying CPR just buys you time is also something I would disagree with strongly.

In some situations an immediate use of an AED would absolutely be the best outcome for the person you are helping and in those cases CPR will prolong the period the AED would be effective, which is what I think you are suggesting. However like I said before AED's will only shock in certain circumstances and sometimes (more commonly) the person will need CPR before the AED will shock. Also if the first shock doesn't get the desired outcome someone is going to have to provide CPR until its ready to shock again. The first thing an ambulance person will do is provide CPR until they have their own defibrillator (basically a manual AED) attached and then they will decide if they will shock or continue CPR.

Hopefully you can see that CPR is vital and can't be dismissed. An AED isn't better than CPR, they are both needed and the ambulance service will be bringing a big manual defibrillator with them pretty sharpish anyway. The great advantage of CPR is that the only tools you need are you hands, you have them with you anyway so please do use them.

You don't really need training on an AED, its basically two sticky pads, an on button and a shock button. The pads have drawings on to tell you where they go and once you turn it on it will actually talk you through what to do. They would probably cover it in the training anyway as bystander CPR and AED use are all under the same umbrella in first aid training.

I don't work for that hospital and I have no idea why they are running this but I wouldn't be surprised if its because they are not having the success they are expecting in terms of survival locally. If they believe teaching the general public CPR could lead to increased success then I think people need to be careful in saying anything that might dissuade someone from learning it.

Like I said before, it can work, you wont do anything wrong, ignore anyone telling you anything different.

Thanks

Fair comments. I should have said "CPR is handy to know but really just buys you time. If they combined this training with AED training (which is arguably easier than CPR) then I suspect the survival/revival rate would be much greater.

Please learn CPR. Literally can make a life or death difference. You have minutes to start it before it's too late (death) or brain damage is caused, due to lack of O2. Really easy to learn. If you ever find yourself in a sudden death situation, you'll regret not being able to help, particularly if it's a loved one. Not easy to find free CPR courses (rather than online), so kudos to the hospital. Should be run in every town and city in the UK, but there's no such scheme or requirement. One reason only one in ten people survive cardiac arrests outside hospital.

9. How many people survive a cardiac arrest?
‌ resus.org.uk/faq…pr/
In the UK fewer than 10% of all the people in whom a resuscitation attempt is made outside hospital survive. Improving this figure is a major priority for the RC (UK), the Department of Health, ambulance services and voluntary aid organisations.
When all the stages in the Chain of Survival take place promptly, the figures are very much better. This is possible where the arrest is recognised immediately, bystanders perform CPR, and an automated defibrillator is used before the ambulance service arrive. Survival rates in excess of 50% have been reported under these circumstances.

I saw this on the BBC and thought you should see it:

Cornwall teenager saves dad with CPR learnt from House - bbc.co.uk/new…224

Don't want to pick on anyone but I have to push back against statements like these because they are incorrect and not helpful. There is lots of evidence of people not performing CPR (despite having the training) because of fears of doing it wrong or causing harm.

AEDs do not restart a heart. They actually stop a heart which is not pumping in an effective rhythm. The goal being that when the heart recovers from this shock it will revert to something that produces a pulse.

If there is no activity by the heart at the point the AED is attached then it can't be used. Hence the pause when you attach it and the voice telling you to wait while it determines if it can shock or not.

Effective CPR can extend the time you have to apply the shock, can take a heart that can't be shocked and change it to one that can and in for example a drowning may lead to recovery without a shock being required. When I'm taking about a shock I'm taking about the use of an AED.

You don't really need to know any of this other than learning CPR and actually performing it can save lives. Don't let someone convince you otherwise.

Sorry if you've had a bad experience, but if I found you lying on the floor, not breathing, I'd still do CPR on you until an AED arrived. And your loved ones would thank me, whether you lived or not. There's evidence of the increase in your chance of survival when using CPR over not using it, so don't knock it. And if you know where your nearest AED is at all times, you're in the minority. So get the free training yourself and you'll be effective at helping someone else. A broken rib or two won't kill you. I recommend downloading a first aid app too, I find the British Red Cross one the best with offline help videos built in. All the best.

That does surprise me, from that quote you sound like you'd be quite a catch! :kissing_heart:

What's better than free? Probably getting paid to do something. :face_with_monocle:

Voted hot!

Great find. Thank you for sharing.

CPR is kind of worthless on its own, with the proliferation of public defibrillators, teaching people to be confident using them has the potential to actually restart normal heartbeat instead of just snapping ribs and hoping the ambulance doesn't get stuck behind some **** in a 4x4

It's free and can save someone's life which is priceless

Park in the surrounding cpz it is cheaper or the 2 surrounding council car parks! Park and ride stops right outside too! These sessions will be great as the resuscitation team that run then are a great group of people!

Will bookmark this and pop in - thanks for posting

I hope they don't need to (_;)

Excellent, short and sweet - gets the point across - here's to ah ah ah ah staying alive ...
Hope I never need it

Great, shame about the parking prices.

just a shame you could not have posted it in freebies.
heat

That sounds terrible, but It'a actually brilliant! There's a Mini Vinnie version too

wow this is great !

They should give CPR lessons free anyway in all hospitals and schools

Brilliant!! I hope people take advantage of this training.

The Tories will like this... DIY CPR.
Joking aside, it's a great initiative.

Yes yes it's not a "deal" but it's free CPR lessons. What's better than free?

Not sure if there are many other Bedfordians on HUKD but the hospital are doing free CPR lessons.

Next ones are:

10th August
1st September
3rd October
29th November
15th December

Times:

09:00-09:45
09:45-10:30
10:30-11:15
11:15-12:00
13:00-13:45
13:45-14:30
14:30-15:15

Taking place in the "resuscitation training room" next to the education centre (opposite the emergency department)

No need to book, just turn up.