(Photo: RACQ LifeFlight)
March 8, 2022
LifeFlight medical specialists are offering a free training course to South Burnett residents to provide them with the skills they need to potentially save a life in an emergency.
The “First Minutes Matter Trauma Training” workshops will be held in Kingaroy, Wondai and Yarraman.
The free community program has been developed by LifeFlight’s aeromedical staff.
“It’s a great program that teaches important medical skills for pre-hospital emergencies, while you’re waiting for an ambulance or the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter,” Flight Paramedic Craig Blick said.
“We try to teach the skills of basic life support, so that if you do need to wait for help to arrive and you are in a situation where something happens in front of you, you’re able to act and can do it calmly and with a level of confidence that you’re going to be able to do it safely and the person that you’re helping is going to be able to survive.”
The idea to create First Minutes Matter Trauma Training came from LifeFlight aeromedical crew members, who know patient outcomes are dramatically improved by actions taken in the first minutes after an incident before emergency crews arrive.
The in-person workshops – which were launched late last year – are already being hailed a huge success.
More than 2000 Queenslanders have taken the course and are now better-equipped to help in the event of an emergency.
Retired nurse Jayne Davidson attended one of the in-person trauma training workshops to brush up on her skills.
Just days later, she found herself using what she had learned when she had to assist an elderly man who was injured after being pinned under a tree he had been trying to cut down.
“He was in a lot of pain, very distressed and hyperventilating, and I remember when I did the course, one of the things the instructor really instilled into us was to calm your patient down and reassure them,” Jayne said.
“So we did all the necessary steps and between my husband and I, we were able to help this man.”
The man had suffered injuries to his chest, back and hip and was airlifted to hospital by RACQ LifeFlight Rescue for further treatment.
“We may not have needed to save his life, but we certainly made a difference to the process of him receiving help, and there were skills that I learned at the course that helped in this way,” Jayne said.
The past-participant is now encouraging others to sign up to the in-person courses.
“I think everybody should sign up to the trauma training. If you can help save someone’s life, or if you could help change the outcome of how someone’s life is going to be in the future, then why not?”
The training program is being sponsored by Shine Lawyers and Land Rover, which means it will be able to run in the South Burnett and Wide Bay regions.
The small workshops, delivered by LifeFlight’s medical staff, focus on giving students the chance to practice their skills.
“The workshops run for about five hours, and we touch on seven main topics,” Craig Blick said.
“We teach things from what to do when you are on the scene of an incident – like calling Triple Zero, and reassuring the patient – to how to treat burns, stop bleeding, choking, strokes and seizures.
“We also use mannequins and a whole lot of other equipment to teach people these really vital and practical skills.”
You can register for the First Minutes Matter workshops online
In the South Burnett, workshops will be held at:
- Kingaroy – June 14 (registrations open soon)
- Wondai – June 15 (registrations open soon)
- Yarraman – June 16
(Photo: RACQ LifeFlight)
