“Remote” for remote first aid purposes is defined as anything more than an hour from para medic attendance-and Adelaide Bushwalkers are often in this situation even on walks not far from Adelaide

We attended the “Remote First Aid” Course that was held at Morialta Conservation Park on the 17th 18th and 19th July 2017.

It was run by Survive First Aid which is a highly regarded provider of First Aid Education based in Victoria. We wondered if the time would drag but the answer is a resounding “No”.

The course was a great balance of theory and practical scenarios which kept things interesting and moving, and these were interspersed with fascinating videos of heroic rescues and spectacular first aid treatments and interesting resources such as defibrillator carrying drones.

The trainer was knowledgeable, friendly, and approachable and no one attending the course should have felt self conscious. He helped everyone in a supportive and friendly way without singling anyone out or showing up their skills.

The practical sessions were great! They were held outside in the lower area of the park adding to the realism of the scenarios. They involved realistic fake blood, compound fractures, and make up that looked frighteningly real. The situations were posed with various combinations of first aiders and victims made up of class members and involved varying types and severities of illnesses and injuries.

They involved diagnosis, prioritization and treatment in very realistic situations-so realistic were the scenarios that passersby stopped, appalled, and made comments like “that looks bad” and “do you need help?”

The realism was increased by the fact that the weather was cold and rainy heightening the sense of urgency. Plus the fact that we are all aware that if something were to go wrong it always seems to happen in the worst weather conditions!

The emphasis of the course was doing what you can with what is available which is such a sensible and realistic aim that one can’t help but agree!—using what you have in your pack or your first aid kit or lying around –not about doing a perfect job with good resources in ideal conditions but adapting what you’ve got as best you can in the bush.

We highly recommend this course and think that anyone in the club would find it interesting and useful and educational and that it increases knowledge and confidence. After all, while we all hope that nothing will go wrong we want to be able to provide assistance to the best of our ability if something does.

We are grateful to the club for subsidizing this course and would recommend members of the club avail themselves of this wonderful opportunity—Get involved! It may save your life or that of someone else one day.