First Aid for Natural Disasters Explained

Some people clearly realize the need for first aid training, but not everyone understands how important it is to get your Canadian Red Cross first aid and CPR certification. Here in Canada, most of us are enjoying carefree, almost 100% safe, living conditions. We don’t live in a hurricane zone or in a country with high tectonic activity. There are no high-volume floods or other frequent disasters… but a natural disaster may strike at any moment, and we all know that. Having an emergency first aid kit ready and knowing how to use it can make all the difference in a crisis.

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Basic Guide To First Aid And CPR Training

group of students in a first aid and CPR course

It is an undeniable fact that first aid and CPR training are quite literally vitally important practices that everyone should know. Yet we as a society still don’t know enough about them. These life-saving skills are critical for emergencies and can make a huge difference in critical moments. It is all the more ironic because one of the things you find out when you start reading is that there’s nothing too complicated about it. Anyone can learn it, anyone at all.

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Can First Aid and CPR Save Lives?

One of the things people frequently ask is what are the chances anyone will actually need to use the skills taught in a Red Cross first aid and CPR course, in their real life?

The first thing we have to say is that regardless of how minuscule the chances are that you will be called to save a life in an emergency, you will wish for dear God that you knew how to do it.

Second, medical emergencies are not as infrequent as you might think. The number of people that have had to deal with injuries of varying degrees in their everyday lives is actually pretty mind blowing. Especially considering that Canada is a seemingly safe country.

There are natural disasters such as the all too recent fire that raged across Fort McMurray, devastating entire neighborhoods. Summer had its share of drownings too. The average is approximately just below a 100 drownings a year in Ontario alone. How many of those people could have been saved if someone knew CPR when they were fished out of the water?

Bystander CPR and your Chances of Survival

Here’s another statistic, from the States. About 300,000 a year suffer a sudden cardiac arrest, the vast majority of which occur outside the reach of medical professionals. Sadly, the survival rate is only 8%, almost all of which are a result of the victim receiving CPR from a bystander, keeping them alive until the ambulance arrived. Only a third out of the 300,000 cases received CPR, saving a good portion of the victims.

Almost not a single one of those who didn’t get CPR ended up surviving the ordeal. This is how Red Cross CPR classes truly save lives.

If this correlation is correct, increasing the number of bystander CPR cases from 30% to a 100%, will raise the total survival rate from 8% to 32% accordingly. That’s over 100,000 people who will have kept their lives.

Canadian total numbers are different due to different population sizes and other factors, but you can be sure the percentages are roughly the same. For every three bystander CPR cases, one person will survive who would have otherwise died on the spot with almost absolute certainty.

The statistics speak for themselves, and strongly support taking a Red Cross First aid and CPR course as soon as you are able. It may be you, next time. Or a friend. Or a loved one.

Don’t wait for it to happen, prepare with one of our many first aid and CPR training courses instead, and be ready when it does.

Register for First Aid Training

Register today for a First Aid Training course and learn how to deal with emergencies and keep your loved ones safe! Check out our facilities and book your spot now.

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Should First Aid & CPR Training Be Mandatory In Offices?

This is a debate that’s been going on for quite a time now.

It has a partial answer, with certain workplaces making red cross first aid and CPR training mandatory, but the phenomenon is far from being commonplace.

It is no small thing to be prepared for a medical emergency, especially in lines of work such as mechanical garages, construction sites and chemical labs. Some of those even have an in-house medical facility or infirmary to treat emergencies quickly on the spot.

Most other places are only required to carry a fully stocked first aid kit per number of employees, located in visible, easily reached places.

Let us examine Canadian law regarding first aid in the workplace.

Standards and Regulations

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a defined outline of what the contents of the first aid kit should be and how many kits should be in place. The first aid kit should contain 1-2 of each of its items in case of a small business (up to three employees). When the number of employees increases, the stock of first aid items in the kit has to be increased.

This is only first aid equipment however. What about red cross first aid and CPR training?

Police officers, Child Care Providers, Adult Family Home Providers and Resident Managers, Confined Space Workers, Logging Operations Workers, Electric Power Generation, Members of a Dive Team, Construction Subpart Transmission/Distribution Workers and only a handful of other professions are actually required to get red cross first aid certified.

The sad thing is there is no such obligation in most other workplaces, with every employer making their own rules.

We gave the example of OSHA regulations for first aid kits to emphasize a point. There is a government regulated rule as to what to keep on the site for cases of burns, cuts or bruises, but nothing, nothing at all, about teaching people how to use those tools. Or how to react when those tools are inadequate, such as during a cardiac or respiratory arrest.

Happily, many businesses are becoming aware of the practical sense of having a staff that knows how to deal with a medical emergency. Offices take the steps to get their staff Red Cross first aid and CPR certified to increase everyone’s safety.

If your workplace is not on board with this yet, now is the time. Get your employees red cross first aid and CPR trained and create a better, safer workplace.

Register for First Aid Training

Register today for a First Aid Training course and learn how to deal with emergencies and keep your loved ones safe! Check out our facilities and book your spot now.

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Knowing What to do When Disaster Strikes in 2017

Disaster never calls ahead of time before it comes knocking.

It will crash your party in the middle of the night, or catch up with you on the road. It can sneak up on you, out or indoors. It loves catching people in swimming pools and lakes.

And sometimes large scale tragedies occur, such as the all to recent fire that raged across Port MacMurray, or the huge blackout we had two winters ago all over Toronto and the GTA.

The only thing we can do is prepare and keep a cool head when it happens.

But what does it mean to be prepared, apart from taking a Red Cross CPR course?

If you really want to be ready for an emergency, just follow this short list of New Year Resolutions for 2017.

Prep a First Aid and Emergency Gear Kit

Get a first aid kit for emergencies only (separate from the every day one) and keep it fully stocked at all times. Put it in a small pack with a list of additional important survival items.

Those include a three day supply of water and non-perishable food, a flashlight plus spare batteries and/or solar charger, multi tool, copies of all important cards and documents (proof of address, traveling documents, insurance policies, birth certificates, etc.), extra cash, and a spare cellphone, fully charged.

Set up an Emergency Plan

Discuss evacuation / emergency response scenarios with your family. Plan what to do when separated, set up places to meet, people to contact. Make sure at least a few household members had first aid and CPR training.

Make sure every household member knows where the emergency kit is stored so anyone can access it at need. If you have an evacuation route, plan a few alternatives in case the road gets blocked.

Stay on Top of Things

If you travel to areas of increased risk, do extra research on the dangers. If you are located near disaster zones (flooding, fires, blackouts), keep an eye on the news at all times, especially in the seasons when it is likely to occur.

And finally, get as many family members as possible through First Aid and CPR training. It doesn’t have to be a full fledged disaster for a loved one to be in danger. Saving lives is an ability everyone should have.

Contact one of our centers for first aid and CPR training today and get certified.

Red Cross Helps Businesses & Schools Prepare For Emergencies

From forest fires to large scale power outages that leave entire neighborhoods without heat or water for days, there are things that you just cannot prepare for enough.

The result of such disasters is that people’s lives and livelihoods are disrupted even when not in immediate danger. Businesses and schools close down, hospitals switch to emergency power, people have to leave their homes. Families get separated.

The American Red Cross decided to weigh in and had established an online Ready Rating program that helps public organizations, non-profits and private businesses to assess their disaster readiness levels and pick up the slack where necessary.

The first step of this program is a fully confidential assessment of the current emergency readiness level. The result of this assessment is a set of customized recommendations and tips for increased preparedness. This feedback is provided immediately with additional resources for information, training centers and emergency supplies access.

The program is absolutely invaluable, as it offers a toolkit to evaluate and improve disaster preparedness, doing it absolutely free of charge.

The Ready Rating Program is a multi-tier toolbox containing several free services you can make use of as a business, school or non-profit organization.

Emergency Response Plan Tool. This tool allows you to create your own customized plan for disaster relief and getting all employees on board with a Red Cross CPR course and other important training.

Next Steps Report Tool. This one creates a list of actions to increase disaster prep levels in your organization or company.

Resource and Information Center. Get full access to exercises, courses and activities to develop and prepare your students and staff for a possible emergency.

Ready Rating Store. Purchase all necessary supplies you are missing right there.

Being prepared means having everything set up for quick and efficient action in case of emergency and/or evac. This includes personal Red Cross CPR course training, emergency tools / supplies, and contingency planning.

You need to know your evacuation routes, fire escapes, emergency phone numbers and everything else that may be necessary in case of floods, fires, power outages and the like.

So there you have it, all you need to know in one convenient resource.

If you got your supplies and plans, and all you need is a place for Red Cross First Aid and CPR training, check out our facilities in your area.

We are here for you, so you can be there for others.

Register for CPR or First Aid Training

Register today for a CPR or First Aid training course at one of our locations across Ontario! Check out our facilities and book your spot now.
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What To Do To Keep Your Child Safe Around Water

Water safety is crucial whenever you take your kids to the pool, or lake, or water park.

 

The big problem with it is that it’s hard to teach children water safety. Scare tactics and other unproductive methods of teaching to kids do more harm than good, however, so there has to be another way. What do you do, then, to make sure your family enjoys itself on the waterside trip and doesn’t get itself into unnecessary risk?

 

There is no one solution, but a set of solutions to this, which achieves great results if you are doing it right.

 

So how do you prepare your kids for water safety?

 

There are several things you can do.

 

Swimming Lessons

 

Don’t wait till they learn it on their own, take them to a swimming lesson. This is not hard, and the basics can be learned within some 10 lessons and practiced to perfection in the pool without an instructor.

 

Do your Homework

 

Make sure you learn as much as possible about water safety and water emergency yourself. Take a red cross CPR course focusing on water safety to make sure you are really on top of things. When you instruct the child, the information should be conveyed in an age-appropriate manner, reinforcing key messages regularly to make sure the information is internalized.

Back the information with sound reasoning. After all, everyone is more motivated to follow a rule if they understand the rationale behind it.

 

Avoid Scare Tactics

 

As we mentioned above, getting kids to be scared of water is not conducive to increased safety. Quite the contrary. There’s a fine line between awareness and anxiety, with the latter leading to being less aware, increasing the danger. The right way is to teach the child to reach aware, confident and intelligent decisions.

 

Lead by Personal Example

 

Children are naturally observant, and tend to put more stock on what they see rather than what they hear. If you want your child to wear a life vest on a boat, be absolutely sure to wear one yourself at all times.

 

Back Preparation by Supervision

 

No matter how responsible and mature your child is, adult supervision is be necessary whenever children play in water. Be close to the child and fully tuned to his activity when he’s in the water.

And of course, if you take the time to take a Red Cross CPR course to supplement your knowledge in water safety, it will increase the safety of your family considerably.

 

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