So yesterday I attended a Mental Health First Aid class! I thought it was well done and wish more people would do it (especially first responders, since they're often called in such situations and it doesn't go well a lot of the time. Like, the police academy should make it part of their training, as well as corrections officers, paramedics, firefighters, etc. Even if firefighters might not be sent in the case of someone calling 911 about someone having a mental health crisis, surely they still encounter people having panic attacks and the like during a fire).
I had been wanting to do this for some time. Here in the US it's a one day class, but in Australia where it started it's a three day class. I don't know if any other countries made their own abbreviated version or if it's just us, but it was still good information.
Next on my goal list is to attend a regular Red Cross First Aid class. I've done CPR/AED classes many times through work when I worked in healthcare, but it's never included first aid. Plus sometimes the rules change - they've changed just in the past 15 years or so that I've periodically recertified in CPR (though that cert is totally expired now).
My aim is to be able to help my community in the ways that I can. I may be limited in many ways thanks to chronic illness, but I can learn how to be prepared for an emergency so I can help people if need be.
The issue, of course, is money (naturally!):
Yep, that's $116 to get first aid certified (and to have the manual, which apparently isn't included in the $104 class cost!). So I've set a goal on my ko-fi for $120 (I figure there will be tax so I rounded up; if there isn't tax then it can go toward my bus fare) to try and raise the funds to go. Mutual financial aid so I can provide mutual medical aid, in a sense.
If anyone is able and wants to help me get there, it would be so appreciated! My ko-fi is at:
...and donations are in $3 increments (to go with their "buy a coffee" theme). If you'd like to chip in with Steem, just put a note in the memo that it's for the first aid fund so I will add it to the total!
This is kinda a big goal and it might take a while to get there, but I really want to do it so I can be of service to others. Unfortunately, I just always have struggled to make ends meet and often need help in that regard. Maybe I'll never be wealthy and paying it forward that way, but if I can help someone in crisis, that would be an awesome way to pay it forward, I feel!
A big thank you to everyone who has helped me feed the kitties, pay the bills, etc. here on Steem. This site has literally kept the lights on for me more than once! I appreciate this part of my community so much! <3
Be excellent to each other, Steem fam, and have a great day! :D
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This is interesting. Maybe I should ask around if there are such programs here in our place. Gotta save some too for whatever cost it will take. Good luck!
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The Mental Health First Aid class was much cheaper in cost - only $20 compared to $120, though I'm sure that varies by country or region. Good luck finding a class!
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While I was keeping my CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) license current, I would have to get re-certified for CPR and First Aid. The classes given in person by the Red Cross cost $50 (last I looked) I've had the classes, I know what they are going to teach or show, so why do I need to pay $50 just to say I know it?
I found online places that would allow you multiple choice questions (so there really is no way to bungle it) and last time I did that, it was something like $16.
I applaud you wanting to be prepared. everyone should know basic
First aid and CPR
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They did have an online option but it didn't count if you wanted to be certified - which, if I'm going to do it, could come in handy as sometimes volunteer opportunities want it and such.
And of course, it's more expensive to learn adult and pediatric - which again, why would you only learn adult? - by about $20, even though the in-person class is only a half an hour longer.
It's an arbitrary way to get money, really, because they know they have a monopoly on it. If it was really about making sure as many people as possible were prepared so society would be better off, they'd use some of those donations they get so many of to offer scholarships for people to take the class who want to but can't afford it.
But yeah - reupping is paying for practice mostly, unless they've changed things up like they did with CPR between the first class I took and the last class I took.
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They taught us to (if you were alone) give two breaths, followed by 5 chest compression's,
Repeated until help arrived.
Now we are taught not to give breath/respiration's at all, just the compression's.
That was the hardest thing for me to adjust to, and frankly, if I am called upon
In a reallife situation, I know how to be sure the airway is clear, I am not
Concerned about nor afraid of 'catching something' from a victim
Though mouth-to-mouth. To me, it is a necessary part of the
Rescue; what good does it do to the victim if you either
Get their heart beat restarted or you've kept them
Going until more help arrives, if they end up
With severe brain damage from being
In anoxia for too long?
an·ox·i·a
/aˈnäksēə/
noun TECHNICAL
an absence of oxygen.
MEDICINE
an absence or deficiency of oxygen reaching the tissues; severe hypoxia.
"death due to anoxia resulting from strangulation"
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When I first learned, it was, as I recall, 15 compressions, then breath, do this on repeat for two minutes, check for pulse, repeat. Then yeah, just compressions.
I don't know that breaths do much for their oxygen levels though, since we're breathing out CO2, hey?
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We don't exhale pure CO2, there is quite a lot of unused
O2 in what we exhale. You can use a 'rebreather'
To stay underwater and not leave a trail of bubbles, breathing
Your own exhaled air with the CO2 scrubbed
Out. Military technology. We used them for emergency
Escape in the missile silo's where I worked.
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