A weekend with the wrong kind of eventfulness

[jethrien]

I actually spent most of this weekend in the office. It kind of sucked, but hopefully that will help this week not be as hellish as it would otherwise be.

I went to the library on Saturday. While I was browsing for books, a librarian's chair tipped over backwards and she hit her head really hard. I honestly didn't want to get involved, since her colleagues were all there fussing over her, but they were about to try to move her head to put a pillow under it, so I stepped in. I remembered enough of my first aid training to keep anyone from moving her, and keep her talking. I tried to check if her eyes were dialated, but her eyes were such a dark brown I couldn't really tell. Basically, I spent fifteen minutes on the floor holding her hand and trying to keep her from panicking too much until the paramedics got there. When I got home, I was still almost shaking from the adrenaline. Bleh. On one hand, at least I know I'm the kind of person who's willing to help a stranger in an emergency. On the other, I'm a little worried I've forgotten enough first aid that I wouldn't be terribly helpful in a more complicated situation.

Comments

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Oh, I've taken the first aid and CPR training courses, multiple times. I was certified from early high school through the beginning of college. But that's exactly the problem - you forget. And I'm not sure I want to put the effort in getting recertified over and over and over again. (I believe it's once a year for CPR, once every three years for first aid.) It's expensive, and it's either a multi-day course or a full, solid day. It's a lot to commit.

[nanonicole.livejournal.com]

I've been toying with the idea of CPR training as well because I feel like it's a good skill to know. I'm just having trouble finding the time...

[shnayder.livejournal.com]

A CPR class is only 3 hours or so (I just got my CPR recert this weekend). A first aid class is longer.

If you don't care about the silly piece of paper, you can learn much of the material just by reading through it a few times:

http://depts.washington.edu/learncpr/

(PS. Take a first aid class sometime--they're fun. At least, wilderness first classes are fun :-)

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Of course, the third year in a row, those three hours are interminable...