Volunteer from two Warminster charities recently came together to take part in a session to learn life-saving skills.
Members of Open Door Warminster and Warminster Action Group took part in the session, run by Tim Watts and Sally Smith from St John Ambulance.
Tim and Sally ran through the essential considerations when confronted with someone in a life-threatening condition, including identifying what is wrong, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, using an automated external defibrillator, controlling severe bleeding, helping someone who is choking and using the recovery position.
“Hopefully you won’t need these emergency first aid skills, but, in a life-threatening situation, a casualty’s chances of survival are greatly increased if the first people on the scene know and use a few simple skills,” said Tim.
“Our vision at St John Ambulance is that everyone can get the emergency first aid they need from the people around them. These free awareness sessions help to give people the confidence to stay calm and intervene.”
Volunteers practised CPR on mannequins, using the rhythm of Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees to learn the technique. They also had the opportunity to use an automated defibrillator, which speaks to the user and guides them through the various steps, so that even someone with no experience is able to use it.
Deborah Gogarty, Chair of Health and Wellbeing Warminster, said, “It was a great example of two charities coming together to share resources.
“Often, small, volunteer-led charities struggle to organise these things on their own, so doubling up makes perfect sense all round.”
St John Ambulance is happy to conduct more of these sessions locally. For more information, contact tim.watts@sja.org.uk or visit www.sja.org.uk
