I have no idea why it’s not mandatory to do a first aid course before adopting a child, I think it should be. I wonder if it’s something that gets covered in ante-natal classes or NCT classes? EVERYone who has the opportunity to do it should.
Well, I decided that this was a must-do for us, so I booked a first response for children and infants course for us, and on Saturday we had a 3 hour session at The Perfect Help in Dubai (see the link on the side). This company primarily provides maids but they also run first aid courses for domestic workers and ex-pats. Our trainer was a nurse for 10 years+ and has a huge amount of experience so that was re-assuring.
We covered:
CPR for infants and children
Choking
Bites and stings
Recovery positions
Scalds and Burns
Fractures
Poisoning
Eye and head trauma
Electric shock
Febrile seizures
Heat exhaustion
Wounds and bleeding etc etc etc
I’ve covered all of it before in my airline training, but it was definitely worthwhile having a refresher and T found it useful too. I also learnt that there is a highly poisonous spider related to the Australian Redback roaming around Dubai – Eeek! Not to mention the highly toxic box jellyfish in the sea here. I had no idea about either of these, and I’m trying not to let it put me off swimming in the sea.
I hope I never have to perform CPR on a baby, but at least I am confident that I know what I’m doing if that situation ever does occur.
desperateinthedesert 