Brittas News Blog

We held a free Basic Defib Training course on Thursday 10th August 2017. It was single class of 2/3 hours held at 7pm in our Community Centre. The course was provided by 3 members of the Blessington Community First Responders, so a huge thank you to Simon and his colleagues for giving up their spare time to teach the basics of using a AED (Automatic External Defibrillator).

The course was very 'hands-on' so everyone who attended was asked to wear comfy, loose clothes. For the first part of the class Simon gave an intro into basic First Aid. He then posed various questions and scenarios to everyone, followed by an introduction to the equipment. A test AED was used and there were lots of different sized 'defibrillation manikins' (or AED dummies), from infant, child to adult. After an hour or so of theory, it was time for everyone to put everything they'd heard and discussed into practice. So it was down onto the floor to start testing and using the manikins - checking for vital signs, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and then use of the AED device.

Everyone who attended the class said it was so educational and beneficial. It not only allowed them to learn how to operate the AED in the correct manner, but they also said it made them feel more confident of what they should do in moments of emergency.

So a big success and thanks again go to Blessington Community First Responders!

(www.blessington.info/groups/response_unit)

As our Community Centre now has an AED (Defib) device, a yellow locked box located on the exterior wall beside the main entrance door, it is important that people are given the opportunity to learn how to use the devices for those times of emergency that we hope will never happen. So the committee organised this course (and previous ones) to address this. There will be more similar courses held in the future, probably during 2018, so please email the committee to express your interest and be added to the list. committee@brittascommunity.com