Am I Nuts, or Just Old?
When I first got certified by the ARC in Basic First Aid it was around 1973.
It wasn't very difficult. Only took 8 hours. In that time we got to learn basic concepts of first aid and got to use a whole lot of new tools, like bandages and cravats and splints, most of us for the first time.
The idea, as I understood it then, was lack of knowledge and unfamiliarity with the proper use of tools were the biggest factors that would cause inaction in an emergency. The idea was, after eight hours of lecture AND hands-on experience, indeed, someone could be able to handle a basic medical emergency and even go so advanced as taking pulse and blood pressure too!
And when I first took CPR, around the same time, it was at least a half day where the class got intimate with mannequins, and maybe even got the feel of what it takes to compress a chest for a full minute!
Well, 22 years after all my certifications expired I went back and took the AHA Heartsaver CPR and Heartsaver First Aid courses so I could get my cards so I can work as a tourguide in Haleakala National Park. It's mandatory, you know...we must be prepared.
What a shock!
The classes, run back-to back, began at 9:00 AM and we were out the door by 1:30 PM. That's BOTH of them!
The funny thing was, they went by so fast at first I was glad that I didn't have to sit through learning and practicing stuff that I know as well as my first name. But then I realized, we didn't see a bandage, cravat or splint, didn't do but a few compressions on a sawed-off mannequin.
That means about fifteen people who were never exposed to this stuff were told they've been trained in First Aid and CPR by (a representative of) the AHA, who, much to my consternation, happened to be a paramedic active in the field (AMR!).
What a joke!
She basically recited a five page checklist for Basic First Aid, threw in a few anecdotes about her field experience, barely more than showed us these new-fangled mannequins that consist of a head, compression tube and a vest like thing that you assemble yourself, and BOOM! we were gone. Test? We don't need no stinking tests!
Sure, it was better than nothing but had I had a medical emergency in that classroom, no jury in the world would convict me for strangling to death anyone (including the instructor) who tried to touch me!
If you think I'm exagerrating, let's put it this way, the CPR course started with a fifteen minute video of some British Comedian (Rowan Atkinson) literally jump starting (with car jumper cables!) someone who hit the floor with an MI.
I can't help but wonder, is this REALLY what these AHA courses are these days?
I almost forgot, she showed us an AED. Did I get to actually touch it? Guess!
