St Andrews First Aid - 08/06/15

Irvine Seagate Rotary’s speaker on Monday was William Richmond, from the Irvine Company of the charity St Andrew’s First Aid.  William talked first about the organisation, which consists of highly trained volunteers who provide first aid cover at private and public events such as Marymass.

The main part of his presentation was demonstrating the techniques required to assist a choking adult or child.  He emphasised the need for speed in the initial response as the brain can only survive for three minutes without Oxygen before permanent damage occurs.  If the blockage cannot be cleared in this time it is essential to apply CPR to maintain oxygenated blood flow, and to continue with this until relieved by ambulance paramedics.  This was an interesting and useful presentation which generated numerous questions and comments on personal experiences from the audience.  A Vote of Thanks was proposed by Sandy Niven.