To find this bizzarre? National Trust properties now dont provide basic First aid - eg plasters in case someone is allergic to them!

[Ohsuchaperfectday]

I could not believe it - the person who told us when we went to the ticket office also said it was mind mindbogglingly ridiculous...but they dont allow you plasters in case you have an allergic reaction!

Nothing no savlon, nothing! DD had a little fall it wasn't serious at all but she did have a nasty graze on her hand right by the bone she wanted a plaster! I must admit for an organisation who is appealing to families I believe there should be some basic first aid available!

Exactly what Don't and jasey said. First aid kits can't contain much more than bandages these days.

You need to start taking your own first aid kit with you. Just as you would take a drink, sunscreen, waterproofs and snacks on a trip out, you should be taking plasters, etc.

I said savlon because we have that at home for cuts or germaline - anti bacterial stuff.

Savlon is the name for cream for cuts but I mean any sort of anti bacterial cream/wipes.

Savlon/antibac cream is next to useless unless freshly opened anyway (or so I was told at last first aid course I did)

Plasters, creams etc now not considered to be part of a first aid kit to be used on anyone other than your family. For a more serious injury (eg needing hospital/stitches) you could expect a dressing for on the way to hospital, but otherwise, just rinse with clean water.

It is bandages to support a possible broken limb or to make a tourniquet, sterile pads to stop excessive bleeding. Things that trained folk can use before getting the patient to hospital or before an ambulance arrived.

Well i'm baffled by this, because as a duty first aider for this very charity until recently I never had any directive that said I was not allowed to administer first aid if the person or parent knew there was no allergy to anything in my first aid kit. Perhaps it has only been announced in the six months since I left the organisation.

Think Plasters, scissors and any agents apart from saline for skin have to be removed.

We have a FA kit at home and also individual sterile gauze pads, meopore wound dressings and hypo allergenic bandages that we give to kids if they fall in our property- unless they are bleeding badly we don't touch them but alert the parents and get permission.

Society is going daft on some things- I've seen people walk past someone have a seizure in the street and not care and me having to alert a police officer to assist(I'm trained) until ambulance arrives.

There's wipes in 1st aid boxes, to clean the wounds.

Are you saying that your dd had an accident and asked for 1st aid and was denied? That sounds a bit dodgy.

I worked for a holiday company 10 years ago and plasters weren’t allowed in our first aid kits then, nor anything wet/cream.

A bit ridiculous, sure. But it’s been the rules for first aid kits for a looong time.

Are parents of small children now so incompetent that they can't manage to put plasters in their bag?

How odd I am sure she or the other one grazed themselves at lego land and there was a first aid place and wiped it and plaster. And I know places like disney or other theme park type places do the same.

As I said small cafes, soft play etc all have little first aid boxes.

I dont expect every NT property to have fully comprehensive ice packs etc but I do expect basics.

Even for the many elderly people who visit them, anything can happen I suppose every one needs to start carrying round comprehensive first aid kits now

Alcohol free individually sealed wipes are the only exception. But they’re just water based I believe, not medicated.

But no, we were not allowed to administer anything that looked remotely like medicine, including sting cream, anti-septic cream or painkillers.

My kit was a patch up type situation, with plasters, sticky tape and bandages, sterile wipes, sterile eye wash, gloves etc. No 'medicine' of any kind.

And, with a charity, there are limited resources. The cost of Plasters would be immense at all the locations. If the decision is either free plasters or something fundamental like preserve a part of a building or employing a conservator, everyone should be choosing the latter.

You are the parent, only you are responsible for your child’s needs.

I'm tough as old boots but allergic to plasters - it brings me out in hideous hives.
Take responsibility for first aid for your own child. If your child is injured enough to need A&E and you can't get a signal on your phone, that's different.

A basic workplace first aid kit should include plasters. Definitely no antiseptic cream though, instead alcohol free wipes.

I can't understand why, as a parent, you wouldn't carry this stuff with you and expect others to provide it. You are the parent. These things don't take up much space

I'm surprised if there is no first aid kit at this property you are referring to. There was a rule at the property I worked at that only qualified first aiders were allowed to give any first aid, including plasters. Perhaps this is the situation you have come up against?

In my office/team I was the only first aider. My colleagues knew full well not to touch the kit ("my" kit) or offer first aid. If I wasn't working the person needing first aid would have had to wait for the duty first aider that day and my colleagues certainly could not just hand you a plaster.

Same in offices too. No plasters allowed. We have guaze and micropore tape. No paracetamol, savlon or anything like that. No one may dispense medicines or medication or offer treatment with their "work" hat on.

It should be the same in all schools as well. They're not allowed to do anything. It's not like in our day where the school receptionist gave you a hug, cleaned you up, wiped a bit of savlon or tcp on your cut and stuck a plaster on & sent you off feeling like a brave soldier!!!!!

My DC get "magic water" on a tissue that they have to hold on themselves!

Can I just sat those saying NT are a charity and won't provide plasters, I can assure you that NT take the welfare and safety of their visitors very seriously and all NT places have trained first aiders and first aid kits available. They are even lucky to have some pretty sophisticated kit in some places, because so many NT staff work on potentially hazardous areas of the properties.

Well fwiw when my 5 year old skinned their knee at a NT place last year we were offered plasters without asking.

I carry a decent size first aid kit (inc plasters) in the car but don’t regularly carry plasters in my bag. And in a NT place it can be quite a hike between the things to see and the car park.

Well i'm baffled by this, because as a duty first aider for this very charity until recently I never had any directive that said I was not allowed to administer first aid if the person or parent knew there was no allergy to anything in my first aid kit. Perhaps it has only been announced in the six months since I left the organisation

^^ The guy at the ticket thing said it was crazy and there was too and fro on walkie talkies...

I would just think its a duty of care to the visitors.

Like I said an elderly person may have a fall and need anti septic wipe etc

Well there you go one previous employee - worker says they did and one previous visitor.

Well this site didn't.

We live and learn!

It should be the same in all schools as well. They're not allowed to do anything

our school do anti septic stuff and plasters.

I’m a first aider. I think I did my first basic emergency aid about 25 years ago. No ointments, plasters or aspirin allowed even then!

I carry plasters in my purse and first aid kit for my own dc and family, but don’t give them out. I am allergic to Savlon, I blister terribly in contact with it, so don’t use it on anyone.

Is this where we are heading now, an Amercian style society withdrawing basic things in case they get sued?. A little bit, but not really. My understanding (i’m a first aider not a lawyer mind!) is that in UK law there is no legal duty to provide medical assistance to someone who needs it, but there is an ethical expectation from medical personnel. Whether a “lay” first aider who happens to be passing counts, I don’t know (but I carry a cpr mask on my keyring). The law does not specifically protect people who cause harm by helping, but does look favourably on the intention of their actions.

HSE’s minimum first aid kit requirements for a small low risk workplace are:

Guidance leaflet
Individually wrapped (preferably hypo allergenic) plasters
Sterile eye pads
Triangular bandages
Safety pins
Unmedicated wound dressings
Disposable gloves