Catastrophic bleeding...

A long day at the BCN Wildlife Trust headquarters updating my first-aid training. We started at eight thirty and spent the following seven hours doing emergency first aid - including recovery position, CPR and use of a defibrillator. I was working with Kathryn, which made it much more relaxed, and we both felt a lot more confident in our abilities at the end of the session.

After a short tea break we then did two hours of Forestry First Aid, which was really useful, though hopefully we won't have to deal with any of the worst scenarios while leading Wildlife Trust walks! Having gone through Lyme disease, crush injuries and hypothermia, the last part of the day was spent learning how to control catastrophic bleeding, using application of pressure and use of pressure bandages, use of haemostatic dressings and use of tourniquets as a last resort. This session was very hands on - the final assessment involved several of us working as a team using all these techniques on the instructor.

An excellent day which was well organised and kept everyone engaged for the whole eight hours - no mean feat! And we all passed with flying colours!