First Aid Refresher

Rob & I need to have up-to-date first aid qualifications as part of our Australian Canoeing Sea Instructor qualifications, and by coincidence our current certificates were both due to expire this month.
Sharon managed to find a little gem in Eden Findlay, a local emergency & first aid trainer who runs his Senior First Aid course out of a legendary local watering hole of which I have particularly warm & hazy memories, the Clovelly Hotel.
I've heard long & mournful whining over the years about the folly of us sea paddlers having to update our ticket every three years, and it's generally the single factor that causes people to allow their leader, guide or instructor qualifications to lapse.
I have a more cheerful view on it all, having had to use my first aid skills in two life threatening situations over the past few years. The first (link HERE) was a successful resuscitation of a poor dude who had stopped breathing and was for all money as dead as Julius Cesar. The second was just last year in Melbourne helping a young girl out of an horrific car crash and making sure she didn't lapse into shock.
Both experiences left me feeling very empowered, in stark contrast to the onlookers present who were mostly in a state of shock themselves, with a few admitting afterwards to their shame that they 'just wouldn't have known what to do'.

Eden was brilliant, tuning into the water-specific emergencies with which we are most likely to deal & tailoring the day to our needs, whilst still running through the full range of the First Aid spectrum. As always, in three years since my last refresher things have changed. It's now optional to perform the 'mouth to mouth' part of CPR, with chest compressions the overwhelmingly more important element of the first aid. We got to play with Epi Pens, and will now carry them in our first aid kits in the kayak. We'll probably also invest in a resuscitation bag. Jellyfish sting treatment has changed (again…!)
To top off all of the great info Eden provided he also shouts you a ripper of a counter lunch & a cold schooner. It was the most lucid & enjoyable day I've spent in the Cloey Hotel ever!
If you're thinking about doing a first aid course or a refresher with some mates, please consider Eden's services. His company is EFI Training & you can contact him at bodyburner@bigpond.com.
And finally, don't just consider it, do it. A community full of first aid trained citizens would be a safer place.