The First Aid For Riders courses commenced on the 11th February at the St John Ambulance facilities in Belfast at the Knockbracken Healthcare Park.
The first group of riders completed the course conducted by St John Ambulance trainer Alan Irwin. Alan took the riders attending through the course details of rendering first aid for: Bleeding; Bone, muscle and joint injuries; Casualty movement; Communication and casualty care; Emergencies in public; Head injury; Primary survey; Resuscitation (adult); Removal of a crash helmet; Shock and Unconscious casualty.
Alan was able to relay his experience of dealing with motorcycle incidents at motorcycle road racing events and other first aid scenarios.
For the motorcycling aspects of the course, riders where taken through scene management, the most important of which is not to put yourself in danger and call the emergency services. This carried through to when it may be absolutely necessary to remove a rider’s helmet, how to remove it and how to manage the casualty before and after it has been removed.
The St John Ambulance course is instructional, it is practical but it is also interactional, in other words you are not just sitting in a class room being talked too. There is open discussion on aspects of the course content and beyond.
Brian Lyness from the Downriders MCC said, “One point which we raised at the event along with Trevor (of Right To Ride), was for clubs to consider having a data-sheet of their own club members on each outing, giving details of name, address, next of kin, what medication they are on (if any) and any medication that they are allergic too, this would be very handy to any Doctors or Ambulance crews when they attend a scene.”
About the First Aid Course, Brian added, “It was very interesting and very worthwhile, I would recommend it to everyone, I would say you learn the simplest things that can save a life, so to me 30 quid for someone’s life is definitely worth it.”
The first available courses are now fully booked, however we are waiting details from the St John to run a course in Ballymena.
If you are interested in attending a First Aid For Riders course in the future, you can fill in the query form or keep an eye to the website www.firstaidforriders.org or the Facebook Group – First Aid For Riders – Click Here
.
Speak Your Mind