Local seniors updated on current First Aid/CPR training

Apr 01, 2015

Fourteen seniors attended a CPR workshop on March 30 at the Anglican church hall in Sharbot Lake. Headed up by Mark Powell, a local paramedic who works with Frontenac Paramedic Services, the presentation included a plethora of information on administering basic First Aid, like how to apply bandages, dressings, splints, slings and wraps. Other topics included how to identify and treat choking, stroke, heart attacks, bee stings, and nose bleeds and other kinds of bleeds. When I visited, the group was learning how to administer proper CPR and guests were also shown how to use a defibrillator.

Powell said that though the session was not a certified First Aid/CPR course, he was able to pass on a lot of important and helpful information to the seniors, who may not have been totally up to date on the most recent changes to basic First Aid and CPR training techniques. “The main idea is that, 'You can't do what you don't know’ and now that these seniors do know and are up to date on the latest techniques, they can now react to an emergency situation in a more informed and effective way.”

Vikki Newlove, community support service coordinator with Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS), who was present at the workshop, said that the session came about through a grant that NFCS received from the Seniors Community Grant Foundation whose goal is to provide information sessions to seniors in the community. Newlove said she and other staff from NFCS spoke to various local seniors groups through the Seniors Community Advisory Network, which is comprised of representatives from the various local seniors groups of Central and North Frontenac. Those representatives in turn advised NFCS staff of the kind of workshops that would most benefit themselves and their members. “We did not want to do a full First Aid/CPR course since most of the seniors have already done that in the past but we just wanted to do a review and allow seniors to have their personal questions answered”, Newlove said. Similarly because many of the First Aid/CPR techniques have changed in recent years, Newlove said that it is important that seniors are kept up to date of those changes. Seniors were also made aware of the numerous defibrillators that are located in the village of Sharbot Lake. Newlove said she was pleased with the turn out to the workshop, which included participants from Ompah, Plevna, Mountain Grove and Sharbot Lake.