Speaker for Tuesday 15th January 2013 - Bernie McKenna
17/01/13 18:30
Photo: President Ross Torrens greets Bernie McKenna, with Press Officer John Dobson
Talk by Bernie McKenna on ‘Emergency Life Support Skills’
Our President Ross Torrens welcomed members and guests to the meeting and then introduced our speaker for the morning, Bernie McKenna. Bernie gave a highly informative talk, presentation and demonstration on heart attacks, bleeding and choking, in other words 'Emergency Life Support Skills' (ELSS). For Bernie, these were skills that everybody should have, and her excellent illustrated talk convinced members and guests that was indeed correct.
Bernie McKenna is part of the project team that trains over 19,000 people a year in ELSS. In the UK, someone has a heart attack every 2 minutes. Ten years ago this statistic would be followed by saying that someone dies of that heart attack every four minutes. Today the figure is one every 7 minutes dies of the attack. This is entirely due to the fact that far more ordinary people are trained in dealing with these type of emergencies.
Bernie went on to discuss with the members what the biggest contributors to heart attacks were - Lack of exercise; Poor diet; Smoking and Drink. With 61% of the population now found to be over weight or obese this is a growing problem. So to is the trend to fat and sugar rich 'convenience foods' that most people buy from supermarkets, instead of cooking meals from basic ingredients.
Bernie went on to show us how to recognise the symptoms of a heart attack and how to help quickly, to give the victim the best chance of recovery - phone an ambulance (either 999 or 112), reassure the person, sit with knees / legs up. Bernie also showed a very good video giving lots of information and examples of things to watch out for - 'Heart Strong - Skills for Life'. It was also interesting to note that heart attack symptoms for women can be different from those for men.
Next Bernie went on to demonstrate (with the help of a dummy) how to cope with choking - heal of the hand 'back slaps' 3 + 2, the 'abdominal thrusts' 5. Then start again if necessary. She also showed for treating children and babies (no abdominal thrusts for babies under 1). Again, there was also a good video showing a typical situation and how easy it is to save a life by knowing what to do.
The third element of the talk was on how best to help when someone is bleeding. The thing to remember is PE PE - or Position (of victim), Examine (wound, do not remove anything embedded), Pressure (over the wound if nothing inside, push edges together is there is or if it's a head or abdominal wound) and Elevate (raise the arm / leg to ease pressure on heart pumping).
Finally, Bernie showed us a video about CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation). This really needs to be demonstrated and practiced in small groups, up to ten people, so our meeting wasn't really suitable, but it graphically illustrated just how valuable the new 'AED' (Automated External Defibulator) machines are, and hopefully encouraged members and guests to go to one of the training programmes Bernie organises.
The talk concluded with an all to short but highly interesting question and answer session. In fact, once again, the talk could have gone on for a much longer time, but time was running out. A vote of thanks was proposed by Leo Dolan for the wealth of experience and depth of knowledge Bernie had shown in her excellent talk.
The President passed on our thanks, and the members showed their appreciation.
A selection of leaflets were available for members wishing to know more.
Talk by Bernie McKenna on ‘Emergency Life Support Skills’
Our President Ross Torrens welcomed members and guests to the meeting and then introduced our speaker for the morning, Bernie McKenna. Bernie gave a highly informative talk, presentation and demonstration on heart attacks, bleeding and choking, in other words 'Emergency Life Support Skills' (ELSS). For Bernie, these were skills that everybody should have, and her excellent illustrated talk convinced members and guests that was indeed correct.
Bernie McKenna is part of the project team that trains over 19,000 people a year in ELSS. In the UK, someone has a heart attack every 2 minutes. Ten years ago this statistic would be followed by saying that someone dies of that heart attack every four minutes. Today the figure is one every 7 minutes dies of the attack. This is entirely due to the fact that far more ordinary people are trained in dealing with these type of emergencies.
Bernie went on to discuss with the members what the biggest contributors to heart attacks were - Lack of exercise; Poor diet; Smoking and Drink. With 61% of the population now found to be over weight or obese this is a growing problem. So to is the trend to fat and sugar rich 'convenience foods' that most people buy from supermarkets, instead of cooking meals from basic ingredients.
Bernie went on to show us how to recognise the symptoms of a heart attack and how to help quickly, to give the victim the best chance of recovery - phone an ambulance (either 999 or 112), reassure the person, sit with knees / legs up. Bernie also showed a very good video giving lots of information and examples of things to watch out for - 'Heart Strong - Skills for Life'. It was also interesting to note that heart attack symptoms for women can be different from those for men.
Next Bernie went on to demonstrate (with the help of a dummy) how to cope with choking - heal of the hand 'back slaps' 3 + 2, the 'abdominal thrusts' 5. Then start again if necessary. She also showed for treating children and babies (no abdominal thrusts for babies under 1). Again, there was also a good video showing a typical situation and how easy it is to save a life by knowing what to do.
The third element of the talk was on how best to help when someone is bleeding. The thing to remember is PE PE - or Position (of victim), Examine (wound, do not remove anything embedded), Pressure (over the wound if nothing inside, push edges together is there is or if it's a head or abdominal wound) and Elevate (raise the arm / leg to ease pressure on heart pumping).
Finally, Bernie showed us a video about CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation). This really needs to be demonstrated and practiced in small groups, up to ten people, so our meeting wasn't really suitable, but it graphically illustrated just how valuable the new 'AED' (Automated External Defibulator) machines are, and hopefully encouraged members and guests to go to one of the training programmes Bernie organises.
The talk concluded with an all to short but highly interesting question and answer session. In fact, once again, the talk could have gone on for a much longer time, but time was running out. A vote of thanks was proposed by Leo Dolan for the wealth of experience and depth of knowledge Bernie had shown in her excellent talk.
The President passed on our thanks, and the members showed their appreciation.
A selection of leaflets were available for members wishing to know more.
(Secretary, Mike Turner)
