Have you ever heard of compulsory athletics training for voluntary first-aiders? No? Neither have I. But when you need them the most you will realise that they are always the furthest away. Legislation stipulates when a first-aider is supposed to be around. But instead of relying on their sprinting skills, it might be better to train possible spectators too.
The world is dotted with millions of people called Murphy, which explains why you can find Murphy's Law around every corner. Not that you really wanna go out and look for it; on the contrary. But very often it is a chain of unfortunate, and isolated, incidents that ultimately cumulate in a massive event. And if not acted upon immediately, the final outcome of the event can be tragic.
Even workplaces that are fully compliant put themselves at risk when they are reliant on a small group of people. Whether this refers to having just one employee with a key, two employees with the rare skill of operating a machine or one per ???? employees trained as a first-aider; the smaller the pool you can draw from, the likelier risk will be.
Companies are advised to have as many people trained in first-aid as possible as every second counts in case of an emergency. If the brain is starved from oxygen for only ???? minutes it will be damaged permanently. And a serious cut in the wrong place can see an adult die of blood loss within ?? if not acted upon immediately.
First-aid is still too often considered as being a job for a trained paramedic or healthcare official where, as a matter of fact, first-aid can be applied by virtually anybody. It doesn't require a certain degree nor is it limited to a certain categorie. All it needs is the willingness of people to help and to assist, something that, contrary to the willingness of assisting in i.e. lifting a box, should be non-negotiable or even be considered in case emergency. Employees who cannot rely on their colleagues in case of an emergency, will never push it to the limit, even when this limit is still far off the danger zone.
But when employers enrol all staff for a first-aid course, they should never take the ability to administer first aid as the standard to verify who has passed or failed the course. You will only find out, once an incident has happened, who will be able to react. But you know for sure that everybody knows how to act. For a company, the employee who starves a fire from oxygen and thus prevents it from spreading is as much a hero as the employee who administers CPR to the colleague who got injured.
When Corporal Nkoana joined the SANDF as a medic she never dreamt of being awarded a medal for Bravery by the President of South Africa. But thanks to her training she kept her cool on the night rebels pounced on the South African peacekeeping force that tried to protect Banjui, the capital of the Central African Republic in 2013. While some trained South African fighters eagerly retreated and ran for their lives, Nkoana volunteered to out and assist with casualties sustained in the field. Whilst returning to the base the convoy was ambushed by Seleka rebels. Without vehicles and maps to guide them to base Corporal Nkoana took the lead and guided the 16 soldiers back to safety. For two long days and nights, they moved under her command and guidance, carrying casualties of war. That night the SANDF suffered its worst loss of life since democracy. It has left Nkoana scared for life, but not traumatized forever. Having had the opportunity to learn some important skills allowed her to survive and lead. Providing first-aid training could do the same to your employees. Living safe is important but don't make 'saving lives' a second best.
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