Free First Aid course for overlanders

[quote="maadmaan10"]"Altitude Sickness (yes really - we ascend in vehicles faster than our bodies aclimatise, Altitude sickness can be got from around 7000ft upwards)"

I think most Land Rover's (certainly 200/300dti Defenders) find difficulty breathing above 7000ft so the human body could also struggle

Tom Mc wrote:

This is terrific - it was asked by somebody on Yahoo Answers: Does wine have salt in it?

To which the first answer was:-

Yes, wine does contain a negligible amount of salt. You would have to drink 100 bottles of a wine of average saltiness in order to exceed your maximum daily intake of salt.

Followed by a far more precise answer:-

Wine does not contain salt. However it does contain a small amount of sodium. Salt is sodium and chloride together - but that compound is not found in wine.

All fruits, vegetables and meat have some sodium in them - and since wine is made purely of grape juice, it stands to reason there is some sodium in it.

But the amount in an average red wine, in one wine glass (about 5 ounces of wine) is about 6 mg of sodium. Far less than what anyone would need to be concerned about.

Me, I'll go by the first answer safe in the knowledge I won't have a heart attack from too much salt intake if I go for the target of roughly 60 to 70 bottles!

Statistics ... don't you just love 'em?

Tom, this is good answer, thanks for the contribution. I like the stats as well. My point is very simple or just avoiding debate, a normal intake is simply good.

Bill, never feel you have to avoid debate as members on this site discuss, and not argue; and its one of the major reasons so many good ideas and suggestions occur so frequently.

Assassin wrote:

members on this site discuss, and not argue;

Yes we bloody well do!!!

Tom you are putting your foot in it again,

All tounge-in-cheek I assure you ... and Bill. It's my daft sense of humour, just ignore me, most do.

Anyway, back at the ranch. Went out and bought a marquee yesterday (used, as new, cheap as chips) just in case some sort of "Overlander's First Aid Course" can be run at ADVENTURE OVERLAND. If it can then great, if not I have a hundred and one other uses for it so it'll never be wasted. Fingers crossed that RustyRhinos can organise something with the guy he knows.

Also purchased 75 stacking chairs for the purpose, just wondering now how the hell I'm going to transport them all. 75 doesn't sound a lot at first, but that's seven and a half stacks of ten - plus a marquee. Why do I do these things?

Thank you for all the input guys it is appreciated

I have to say I have been a bit busy rebuilding an engine, driving about in Morocco (twice, once failed!) and so on so have not been on the forum much at all.

Would it be too late Tom to try and sort something re the First Aid Course/Demo/etc?

I would certainly be interested in this type of course.

I think that everyone should have regular courses/updates on basic First Aid. For travel and especially the type of travel we are all interested in I think we ought to have further knowledge for our own and our companions safety. This should include:
Recognition of the symptoms of diseases like Malaria, Bilharzia, Altitude sickness, hypothermia, dehydration etc.
Life support for major bleeds, serious fractures etc.
Basic support following animal/insect/snake bites.
All these should give us the knowledge to provide sufficient support to the patient to allow time for professional help to arrive or allow us to transport them to suitable help which could be a considerable distance away both in time and miles.

Robin

Good call Robin, all very important stuff.

Rusty - A shame this was never implemented at ADVENTURE OVERLAND, something we will definitely rectify for AO`13. Big plans afoot for next year's event, I will inform you ASAP of developments.

I should also have added Asthma and allergic reactions to the list as these are quite common and can be life threatening if not treated quickly.

I would be intrested to

Another typical case today, two employees were travelling out to some maintenence on site equipment, both with fully equipped 4X4's and both carrying our tailored First Aid kits which all our vehicles carry.

While travelling along the access route they saw a tractor sat in a ditch and it was still running, they stopped and looked and saw the farmer lying on the ground and suspicions were raised, they went over and found the tractor had rolled backwards while he was behind it and ran over one leg and one arm, as it knocked him over he had a large would caused by a sharp piece of metal across his cheat. They summoned help and dealt with him, now he is in hospital and the staff claimed he would have bled to death if he had laid there for any longer than 10-15 minutes.

It just shows you never know where or when an accident can happen, or when you will come across one.

Do keep me informed Tom

Good example Assassin

Robin - agreed

We had a quick look into those that are providing First Aid courses for adventurists. There are some that really go into quite some depth...belong to various organisations etc and some of them teach way more than what I would class as First Aid and more on the scale you would expect Paramedics to learn...and I have to say although we have access to people who are capable of teching such things I am not sure I would be comfortable in teaching such things on a brief First Aid course. Does that make sense? Saying that, most of the things suggested in this thread are pretty much routine and the bulk would be normally be taught on a 3 day "First Aid at Work" course. We could probably squeeze in much of the points raised into a 1-day course but tailored to answer the questions people here have raised - but - it would be on the understanding that it would be delivered as an "Emergency First Aid" (1 day) course, signed off by an established awarding body. Does all that make sense?

As I said before, this is a great idea and one that will happen. Accordingly, I've PM'd you RR.

Fair enough I shall await the PM