My first contribution of this new year will be maybe shorter than my previous ones, but I think it will carry the most important message of them all.
After Christmas was over, my friends and I planned a meetup, to see each other before the new year comes. I was on my way over to the cafe, where we planned to meet, just waiting for the bus to come, when I saw this older lady, sitting on a bench badly shaking, looking on the verge of passing out. So I came over, introduced myself and asked if there’s anything wrong and if she needed help, she replied that she is diabetic and she thinks she has low blood sugar level and then she passed out.
If this happened a few years back I would have panicked and would not know what to do. Do I force sugary drink or snack into her? Do I search her for an injection of glucose, or something or do I call an ambulance first? But because I have completed first aid courses that helped me to become senior summer camp counselor I knew what to do. I knew I had to put her on a straight surface and tilt her head back, to allow her to breathe freely and I knew I had to call an ambulance and give them the most accurate info for them to be able to help. So I did precisely that, maneuvered her on the ground, tilted her head back and called 155. There I informed dispatch where we are situated, who is the patient and what is happening and then I waited for the ambulance to show up, which it did after a few minutes. The paramedics took the lady to the hospital and my part was over.
I am not writing this to get some accolades or pats on the back for being a good person, but to urge you to if not attend the first aid courses, then just look up first aid on the internet or download the Záchranka app on your phone, so when you get to some similar situation you will be able to help. Because when I started helping the lady, there were around ten other people on the same bus stop and nobody did anything, they just looked at her and did nothing. To be fair, after I lowered her to the ground, and wanted to call an ambulance one middle aged woman approached us and offered her help, so I had her monitor the lady’s breathing. But if they helped her sooner, she didn’t have to lose consciousness and an ambulance wouldn’t have to be called, but I do not want to play the blame game, it happened and the lady got the help she needed and survived. And she survived because there was someone who knew first aid and knew what to do.
So I wish you would never need it, but it’s better to be prepared, because there could be a time when there’s nobody else to help, but you.
St John WA. (2014, April 11). Break the Barrier | TVC | St John WA [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCbcCBKO8dA
