Hello!

If you are a mother, a carer, or grandparent of young children..make sure you get yourself first aid trained!

We had a couple of scary incidents with our little koala last week. Following an ambulance call, a couple of days in hospital, a ton of tests, no sleep and a crash course in baby resuscitation,  I am now adament that a first aid certificate is a MUST.

There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, more terrifying than watching your 3 month old baby stop breathing, go limp and drain of colour with a look of helpless terror in their eyes.

The first time, my husband was giving our bub Gripe Water, something we did every night to help with her wind and reflux. I was putting some of her clothes away and I heard her cough, this wasn’t uncommon, but I came out to see if she was ok, and it was clearly apparent she was not.

Seeing my baby lifeless and full of fear, all I could do was scream. My husband put her over his arm face down and tapped her firmly on the back while I got my wits together and called 000. Luckily she came around by the time the ambulance got here, by then I was barely consolable. Needless to say, we decided we would rather deal with her wind than see our baby choke again.

Three days later I’m burping her after a feed as usual, suddenly she goes from thrashing about over my shoulder to not moving at all. I pull her down from my shoulder and see the same look of helplessness on my precious baby’s face and her limp body drained of colour.

I scream for my husband who comes running and he again resuscitates our little girl.

Thank god for my husband!

This time, we rush her down to the local hospital, she is pushed through emergency and is seen immediately. Some six hours, multiple tests, and a long wait in the ER later, an ambulance finally arrives to take her up to the High Care Pediatric unit at the specialist hospital. They called it an ALTE, an Acute Life Threatening Event, and it’s not uncommon!

We’re admitted and after a short stay, luckily my little girl is alright. The fear, however, of this happening again, of seeing my girl in pain, of not having someone with me all the time, is all but paralysing.

The lesson here? This post isn’t intended to scare you but no one is immune to household accidents or freak occurrences. I’m just lucky my husband knew what to do!

Knowing first aid could save your babies life. Do not put it off.

Don’t wait until your babies older (many providers have courses you can take your baby with you). Please book in for a first aid course so that you know what to do in an emergency.

Have you done a first aid course, did you find it helpful? Please share in the comments below.

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  • Goodness me…..our kids sure do put us through a rollercoaster of emotions.

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  • I’m glad your little bub was ok xo

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  • Quite a few years ago a friend of mine did a First Aid Course with Australian Red Cross on Friday nights. I don’t know whether or not they still run courses.
    Initially he did it because being on the road so much as a sales representative he came across a few accidents and wasn’t confident because he had no training. The Police need to keep theirs up to date too. He helped at an accident and was sure the victim had internal bleeding because of the noises he could hear coming from him and he was also having difficulty breathing. The guy was conscious and was moving his arms and legs OK.The Police refused to allow him to place the guy on his side. The first thing the Ambulance officers said to the Police was why didn’t you place him on his side. He is choking on his own blood. As soon as the Amulance staff turned him and cleared his airway he started breathing a lot better. Our friend has mentioned it several times.

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  • What a scare that would be

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  • It’s so important and not just to do it once but everytime it’s due as it changes

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  • I agree first aid knowledge is vital.

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  • So important to do a first aid course and keep it updated. Its something so easy to forget, but knowing what to do and having the confidence to do it in an emergency can be lifesaving. I did my course through work, then 2 yrs later i ended up using what i’d learnt when a neighbours child had a severe asthma attack. Scariest thing ever but i went into ‘auto’ mode and remembered what i’d learnt during the course.

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  • yes i think that you are suppose to update your training every 2 years.

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  • You cannot know enough in life saving.

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  • Good lessons for us all.

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  • Great info for all of us, even for people without kids,

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  • Great article, first aid is a must for all.

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  • This is all so true. My hubby as just done a first aid course and after reading this I think I should attend one too.

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  • I too thank God for my husband who is very highly skilled in First Aid. It’s one of those things I often talk about but have never done. I’m not alone there, either. Many people I know haven’t, but I think it’s time I got onto it. Thanks for the timely reminder.

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  • It’s good to learn these skills.


    • One of the most important skills you can have, First aid training is literally life saving :)

    Reply

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