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Original poster

If your a first aider with recent training

64 replies

DyslexicPoster · 05/11/2023 21:23

Would you offer help if you saw someone in trouble?

Out in the car earlier, someone was on the floor next to a car in a car park we was in. Not sure if the been hit by a car, or fainted or what but clearly not ok and laying on the wet floor. Dh has just recently done a two day first aid course for work. I asked if he was going to check if they needed help. There was two people with the person on the floor so dh said no, they already had help. I asked how he knew he wasn't more qualified to help.

I think this is pretty standard thinking for my dh. He is qualified to give first aid at WORK. This was not work and no one had asked for help so I think in his mind, that was that. He is isn't great on critical proactive thinking. I think if I was him, I'd would have asked if they needed help.

OP posts:
TheresaCrowd · 05/11/2023 22:38

Saz12 · 05/11/2023 22:37

He could have simply asked "do you need any help, or is everything under control?". It doesnt matter if hes got some sort of certificate or not, if he could safely help then why wouldnt he?

And the OP could've done exactly the same thing?

Saz12 · 05/11/2023 22:41

Yes, if course, anyone could offer help. But it makes more sense if you help when you think you might know what youre doing.

gotomomo · 05/11/2023 22:41

Yes I would and have ... mostly unfortunately dealing with elderly people who have fallen over near my work

Saz12 · 05/11/2023 22:41

Yes, if course, anyone could offer help. But it makes more sense if you help when you think you might know what youre doing.

SleepyTraveller · 05/11/2023 22:46

I have asked quite a few times in situations like this, but I've also been regularly refreshing my training for 20+ years and have quite often had to use it in various voluntary roles, so am probably more confident than the average person after their first two-day course. I'd respect someone's choice not to offer help if they didn't feel confident doing so and others were already on the scene.

pizzaHeart · 05/11/2023 22:47

FFSWhatToDoNow · 05/11/2023 22:37

Mine (First Aid at Work - 2 days plus online learning) covered CPR, defibrillator, bandages on lots of parts of the body, splinters, burns, choking, asthma attacks, allergies, low/high blood sugar, chemical burns, stroke, heart attack……… not work specific AT ALL.

Edited
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Wow! It sounds very thorough.

TheresaCrowd · 05/11/2023 22:48

Saz12 · 05/11/2023 22:41

Yes, if course, anyone could offer help. But it makes more sense if you help when you think you might know what youre doing.

I agree but you said It doesnt matter if hes got some sort of certificate or not, if he could safely help then why wouldnt he?

So it doesn't matter either that the OP's certificate is 20 years out of date.

Saz12 · 05/11/2023 22:56

Whst I meant was that the certificate doesnt matter. IF he could help he should have: he's more likely to be able to help than someone with no first aid training. You might not do it "right" but doing nothing would likely give a far worse outcome.

Saz12 · 05/11/2023 22:59

... so of coursehes more likely to be more help with recent training than someone who did a course 20 years ago, but doing nothibg is likely to be more harmful than doing something.

TheresaCrowd · 05/11/2023 22:59

pizzaHeart · 05/11/2023 22:47

Wow! It sounds very thorough.

Show quote history

Mine was the same, I think they're all pretty similar. They also cover electric shocks.

TheresaCrowd · 05/11/2023 23:00

Saz12 · 05/11/2023 22:59

... so of coursehes more likely to be more help with recent training than someone who did a course 20 years ago, but doing nothibg is likely to be more harmful than doing something.

True, but I think everyone (including the OP) should've done something because often the help needed isn't first aid related anyway.

jannier · 05/11/2023 23:03

TheresaCrowd · 05/11/2023 22:17

I've done mine twice now and both times they lead with this because I think some people beat themselves up if they panic.

Also, no-one really knows how they'll react in an emergency situation until it happens.

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Over 20 years of first aid and always been told doing something is better than nothing

jannier · 05/11/2023 23:04

pizzaHeart · 05/11/2023 22:28

You could ask yourself if they needed any help at all it would be more useful, it wasn’t fair to put pressure on your DH, he was probably “qualified”
for very specific work related injuries.

Have you done first aid? Even paediatric looks at adults

jannier · 05/11/2023 23:06

pizzaHeart · 05/11/2023 22:47

Wow! It sounds very thorough.

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Normal even for paediatric

TheresaCrowd · 05/11/2023 23:06

jannier · 05/11/2023 23:03

Over 20 years of first aid and always been told doing something is better than nothing

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I would agree 100%

But I think the point is some of the people on the course were nervous, so telling them they don't have to identify as a first aider made them feel better.

However, I really think they should stop anyway whether they identify themselves or not.

Goodfrock · 05/11/2023 23:09

I saw someone collapsed earlier this week, they already had more than enough people helping - they don't need a crowd. I'd have offered if they weren't been helped but you're just being nosy if they're already getting help.
.

WrongSwanson · 05/11/2023 23:10

I always stop. But then I am a natural "helper" so have helped in other situations too (looking for lost children, dealing with a car that rolled away without anyone in it, rescuing someone who was running (literally) from her abuser)

One time I nearly didn't stop as there was a bit of a crowd already, but instinct said to just stop, and after observing I realised one man was very competently giving first aid so I just checked if any of the others had called an ambulance and they all just looked at each other.... The first aider looked so relieved when I got straight on the phone!

However, I don't think an audience is helpful so would always back away if a situation was already under control.

TheresaCrowd · 05/11/2023 23:11

Goodfrock · 05/11/2023 23:09

I saw someone collapsed earlier this week, they already had more than enough people helping - they don't need a crowd. I'd have offered if they weren't been helped but you're just being nosy if they're already getting help.
.

Yes but this has nothing to do with the story in the OP.

pizzaHeart · 05/11/2023 23:11

jannier · 05/11/2023 23:04

Have you done first aid? Even paediatric looks at adults

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No I haven’t, a friend mentioned their first aid box (she’s first aider at work but I never asked her about it tbh) and it seems contained mostly plasters, bandages and sterile wipes, that why I said that maybe the course was more work related. However my main point was that OP could have asked if they needed help at all.

JL690 · 05/11/2023 23:14

@FFSWhatToDoNow Same with mine. My training also covered these things then outdoor emergencies that can happen on adventurous activities, that was the only part that was work/role specific.

WrongSwanson · 05/11/2023 23:14

TheresaCrowd · 05/11/2023 23:00

True, but I think everyone (including the OP) should've done something because often the help needed isn't first aid related anyway.

Show quote history

I agree with this, you often don't need to be a first aider to help.

My children have anaphylaxis and when I think about the help I need (I like to plan Blush) it would be - flagging down the ambulance (might need several people depending where we are), holding a childs hand or reassuring them while I administer the epipen or talk to 999, calling the ambulance for me and giving location info while I administer EpiPen, gathering our belongings etc, maybe calling my husband, securing the food if we were in a restaurant (thats the evidence... ). None of these need first aid training, just a willingness to help.

When my son had anaphylaxis as a baby I am sure our neighbours who all ran various points in our weirdly laid out estate helped save his life by directing the ambulance, and I am so grateful to the lady nextdoor who just stayed with me and helped soothe me and my son.

WrongSwanson · 05/11/2023 23:18

Other things you don't need to be a first aider to help with
-making a location safe and secure (eg.if they are on a road, or a busy pavement),

  • protecting their privacy (eg shielding an area. )
  • running to get things a first aider asks for

So anyone can help. So op could also help

Please don't shrug and walk on by because you aren't trained. You could be just the extra help someone needed.

Original poster
DyslexicPoster · 05/11/2023 23:20

TheresaCrowd · 05/11/2023 22:38

And the OP could've done exactly the same thing?

Show quote history

I could have, but dh was driving so unless he stopped the car, which he already said wasn't needed, I'd possibly cause more fuss jumping out if the moving car.

It was a generic first aid course the same type I had been on decades ago. Just a normal work course where you need the basics, burns, cpr, wounds, broken bones etc basic stuff including filling in time until the emergency services turn up. I have been in a head on 70mph crash and I couldn't fix the person who's head had hit the door frame, but I could roll her onto her side she didn't choke on her blood until the ambulance came. I think most people know the basics. Possibly that's what dh assumed too and his reasoning. Anyone can roll someone onto their side and call 999

OP posts:
Lavender14 · 05/11/2023 23:20

For me it depends on how in hand the people who have responded seem to have things. If they're on the phone calling emergency services then they'll be talked through step by step what to do so in that instance I'm not sure I would have anything extra to offer. I'd stop if the other responders looked panicked, were elderly or unfit to administer cpr. But if it appears under control then I'm not going to add to a crowd.

UsingChangeofName · 05/11/2023 23:40

True, but I think everyone (including the OP) should've done something because often the help needed isn't first aid related anyway.

This.

  • Directing traffic,
  • calling a relative,
  • potentially running to get the nearest de-fib
  • directing the ambulance to where it needed to be
  • going to a nearby charity shop (if on the High Street) or house to see if you can get something to keep the patient warm whilst waiting for the ambulance
  • holding an umbrella over the patient
If it turns out the people with them don't know what to do, then taking over

If it turns out the person needs CPR, then alternating with the person already on scene.

Yes, of course I would have stopped.