Firts Impressions of WFR

This Tuesday marked the beginning of the winter semester's final skill, wilderness first aid training. All first years were scheduled to meet at 8:00 at Wesley United Church which is a few doors down from the college. The courses instructors are Jill, Laura, Ben, Greg, Shannon and Geoff.

We began with an introduction given by Jill. Here she provided us with an overview of what to expect over the next two day. She also revealed to us another hidden course fee. The thin paper textbooks for this course are forty dollars. This came as unpleasant news to me considering my house just got robbed.

After the brief overview we separated into three groups. Each group was to spend roughly 60 minutes at three stations. The first station was with Jill. Here we were given the hypothetical scenario of finding an alone unresponsive victim. Jill asked us to try our best to go through the scenario as if it were real life. We had to approach the victim and ensure that our surroundings were safe, and then we had to attempt to diagnose what is wrong with the victim and move them into a safe position. The scenario was concluded by us developing an evacuation plan. In this case we chose to airlift our victim out.

The next station was with Greg and Ben. Here we discussed the three vital systems. The Circulatory, Respiratory and Neurological. The circulatory is you heart, veins, arteries and capillaries. The respiratory is your lungs and the oxygen exchange that takes place in the aveoili. The final system is your brain and nerve system that transports signals throughout your entire body. We used the analogy of a three legged stool, without one system the others are as good as dead.

At the next station we discussed the importance of learning the details in patients history. These details are critical in properly diagnosing the victims problem. Sample is a slogan that helps first aiders remember the details. It stands for symptoms, allergies, medications, past history, last in/ out and Events. If a first aider fails to address these details they will not truly understand the depth of the task at hand.

The stations after lunch were dedicated to doing scene surveys. A scene survey is the entire investigation of the incident at hand. Soap notes are tools used by first aiders help remind them of all the issues that need to be address. It begins with a scene survey; in a scene survey rescuers check that state their group and themselves are in. They must ensure that the location will not cause any harm to themselves or their group. Next they try to diagnose the mechanism of injury. Did the environment cause the victims injury or is it an underlying medical condition? They must also establish a number of victims and rule out the possibility of a spinal.

After the scene survey has been completed rescuers must complete the primary survey. In doing so rescuers check the patients level of awareness, airway, breathing, circulation, look for deadly bleeds and check environment / exposure.

The secondary survey requires rescuers to observe the victims vital signs. These include LOA, pulse, respiration, ski condition, blood pressure, temperature and pupil condition.

Next to be addressed is the patients medical history. To do so the SAMPLE method is used. This stands for symptoms, allergies medications, PMHX, Last in/ out, and events. Once this is completed the scene investigation ends with a physical assessment and action plan.

This lesson was completed around four o'clock. For the remaining thirty minutes we discussed the legal implications of giving a victim first aid. We talked about when the rescuer can be held responsible and when not.