First Aide

Every year as part of our preparation for Girl's Camp we would have first aide classes. I was always rather interested in the subject and was quick to figure out what was needed. I had one of my leaders even tell me that she hoped that I was around when something happened so that she would be well taken care of.

I never realized then what a positive impact all that practice would have on me in my life as a mother. I was reading Amanda's blog the night before last and the post hit home with me. I am sure that with out all that training I would have been overwhelmed with the challenges that my kids have presented me with. If I had not practiced this stuff until it became second nature then I am sure that it would be all too easy to freeze in a moment of panic.

With all this on my mind I ended up using my first aide training the very next day. Evan has a cold sore on his lip and he loves picking it (I am a picker too, so I am sure that is my genes showing through). This would not bug me so much if he was not on blood thinners. I just knew that if he got that big scab off his lip he would be bleeding up a storm. Evan knows he is not supposed to pick, so when he did he was very obviously challenging me. You should have seen the grin on his face as he ripped the scab off in one motion. The grin vanished when large drops of blood started dripping down his face.

He was soo mad when I had to keep pressure on his lip. Luckily he did stay still, even if he was mad about it. I did give him the option of sitting in the bath tub (I knew he was not going to bleed to death from his lip, but he would have made a horrible mess) rather than having me putting pressure on his lip. Once he heard the options he settled down and let me do my thing. It took a half hour of pressure to get that sucker to stop bleeding! I am sure that had I not had my first aide knowledge it could have been a lot worse. My calm helped keep Evan calm(ish) and it kept my floors a lot cleaner.

So, the lesson here is that you should try and take a refresher course in first aide if you are feeing rusty in your skills. If you have never taken a first aide course of any kind, you should!! You never know when it could come in handy. The life you may save could be some one you love.