A person dying and in need of CPR is a scene for which no amount
of training can prepare a person.
It explains why, when former SCDF paramedic Abdul Rasheed Doad
reaches the victims, he often finds a crowd, but no one giving
first aid.
This, even though chances are that someone in the crowd could be
trained to do so.
To help first-aiders overcome their fears of giving CPR, Mr
Rasheed, founder of the Singapore First Aid Training Centre is
starting a course called My True Hero.
He shares how in his six years as a paramedic, he's seen people
giving CPR in only one of 50 instances.
"Most of the time, the usual response we get is we'd rather not
touch the victim, we might do something wrong and hurt him even
more and what if I break a rib, there's always all these fears that
come about when it comes to helping. Some of them just fear of
stepping forward because there's a crowd and they just don't want
to step in front of people to do something which they themselves
might not be very comfortable."
Existing CPR courses, Mr Rasheed says, focus more on the
techniques of first-aid, than overcoming such fears.
The course that he'll conduct with his colleague, an enrolled
nurse, draws on their collective experiences and how they've
overcome it themselves or have helped others to do so.
Mr Rasheed gives on example of what participants could pick up
at the one-day seminar.
"We've this activity which is done during the lunch break so
they're supposed to go for lunch in a group and they've to look for
the opportunity to help others. And they'd score points on that. We
turn it into a kind of game. Helping someone, you've to build up
the confidence of going up to someone and talking to them - alot of
people have that kind of fear."
The seminar today will also address myths like whether a person
can get AIDs or be sued for giving CPR.
A second seminar is being planned for August 15th and if
response is good, more will be organised.
Mr Rasheed thinks such courses should form a pre-requisite for
CPR training programmes.
"If you understand the psychological theory behind it, it helps
you when you learn CPR so you learn it with an open mind and open
heart rather than thinking what if I do this and do that and do
this? Most of these people, if CPR is not applied within the first
few minutes, the brain cells start to die. So even if you call the
paramedics and we get there within 10 minutes, it's really too late
for us to do anything actually."
For details, visit www.firstaidtraining.com.sg
--938Live