Paediatric First Aid Training – 5th February 2019

I remember when I decided that I wanted to teach First Aid it was the Paediatric First Aid courses that I spent a lot of time thinking about. I had been involved in First Aid since joining the Royal Air Force 16 years ago but it was Emergency First Aid at Work and First Aid at Work and not Paediatric. I had never attended a Paediatric First Aid course before and I wondered what the difference would be.
When preparing for and attending first aid courses I would visualise the adult with various ailments and think about what I would do as a first aider. Applying this to a paediatric course was unnerving, the thought of a child requiring first aid or even lifesaving CPR is difficult.
Now I teach both and its interesting to see how people react with the baby (under 1 year), child (over 1 year) and adult manikins. Often people seem to act differently with the baby and child. I get more questions in respect of injuring an baby or child when offering first aid then I do on the adult courses.

I want to focus on the differences with Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) in this blog.

When performing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on an adult we start with 30 chest compression’s followed by 2 rescue breaths and continue with this ratio. With a baby and child however we start with 5 rescue breaths followed by 30 chest compression’s then 2 rescue breaths. We then continue with chest compression’s and rescue breaths at a ratio of 30:2. Don’t worry if you forgot the 5 rescue breaths, the adult sequence is ok. Babies and Children tend to suffer from respiratory problems as opposed to cardiac related problems unless a heart defect was present at birth and this is why it is better to carry out the 5 rescue breaths first.
With an adult we use 2 hands to carry out the chest compression’s however with a baby we use 2 fingers and with a child 1 or 2 hands as required.

We do not interrupt CPR unless:
. A health professional tells you to stop;
. You are exhausted;
. The casualty shows signs of recovery.

We just hope we never have to put this into practice in dealing with a real life incident however just as how I felt when I first got involved in First Aid, training gives you the knowledge, experience and more confidence if you ever find yourself in such a situation.

If your interested in learning more or attending a First Aid course, get in touch.

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Should children be taught life saving skills such as CPR in schools? – 11th January 2019

Did you know that fewer than 1 in 10 people who have a cardiac arrest outside of hospital in the UK survive? This is a shockingly low number, so what can be done?

In Norway, life saving skills such as CPR have been taught for many years and their survival rates are as high as 1 in 4. Teaching children life saving skills as part of the school curriculum can help improve the UK’s survival rates, just look at Norway, the proof is there.

This month Education Secretary, Damien Hinds, confirmed that CPR will be added to the school curriculum in England. The new proposals will see first aid added to the curriculum as part of the Department for Educations plan to strengthen teaching of health, sex and relationships education in England from 2020.

I enjoyed school, I have friends and family who are teachers but when I think back to what I was taught and what I have applied in adult life a lot of the curriculum wasn’t relevant to me. I’m not saying it isn’t relevant, just not relevant for the path I have taken. First aid however can be applied, it doesn’t matter what path you take in life, first aid is always relevant. Its not just work, its at home, first aid is first aid whether you are at work or at home. I just wish I had been taught basic DIY!!

It was only after joining the RAF that I was taught first aid, yet as a child I recall occasions where first aid was required. Could I have helped, maybe, maybe not, but armed with experience and training doing something would have been better than doing nothing at all.

As well as adult and paediatric first aid courses, SHN Training Services Ltd offers first aid courses for children. I have children at home and I let them play with bandages and I teach them the basics. I remind them daddy is getting old so listen up!! Teaching children is great fun, they are amazed to find a manikin dressed as Spiderman though children have asked me some of the most difficult questions I have had to answer.

Should children be taught life saving skills such as CPR in schools? Absolutely! I look forward to seeing the impact.

My First Blog – 23rd March 2018

Here I am, a Friday afternoon trying to write my first ever blog. I’m a lover of lists, without a list to remind me what I need to do I get nothing done! At the top of the list and has been for the last 12 months “Start a Blog”!
Last night I attended a course about website and social media content and blogging was discussed, it was the final push I needed.
So here we go……..

Who Am I

My name is Paul Seager and I own SHN Training Services Ltd a safety training company offering first aid, fire safety, manual handling, food safety and health and safety courses. We are based in the beautiful county of Cumbria but will travel anywhere in the UK to deliver our courses.
Owning my own business has always been a dream of mine, I just didn’t know what type of business I wanted to set up.
I love fell walking, rugby league and a keen collector of whisky. I enjoy movies (I own too many Superman mugs) and was probably the last person on Earth to give Game of Thrones a try, Im now addicted!

Planting the Seed

When I was 19 years old I joined the Royal Air Force Fire and Rescue Service, a career I absolutely loved and would recommend to anyone, but it was never going to be a 20-year career for me. I met some great people, people I am still in touch with today and served in countries all over the world including the Falkland Islands, Iraq, Cyprus, and New Zealand. Part of the job was teaching fire safety to new recruits and here I believe the seed was planted. Teaching. I had toyed with the idea of becoming a preschool teacher but opted for the RAF.

When I left the RAF, I began a career working for the NHS as a Fire Safety Advisor, firstly in Newcastle upon Tyne before transferring back home to Cumbria. Family life was calling, I was getting married and children would follow. My wife is also from Cumbria and we wanted to raise a family back home where both of our families all lived. I now have two boys, Jack (2) and Samuel (6 weeks), they are my world and my inspiration. I want to build a successful company, show them how to work hard and carve out a career of their own. I need to set those foundations and be a good role model. No pressure!
I teach Paediatric First Aid which is a handy skill set to have when you have a 2-year-old whose slowest speed setting is a million miles an hour and who thinks electrical sockets are fun. Thank goodness family are on the doorstep!
It was working for the NHS that really pricked my interest in teaching. I would teach fire awareness, fire warden, evacuation and fire extinguisher courses to the staff and I loved designing training packages and delivering to such a variety of roles within the hospital. I could be teaching office staff fire extinguisher training one day then teaching surgeons how to evacuate an operating theatre with a patient under the knife the next. Here I was starting to think to myself, could I build a training company.

Taking the Jump

After years of teaching experience, qualifications in fire safety, health and safety, first aid and manual handling and a lengthy discussion with my wife I decided to take the jump.
I think taking the jump was easier than thinking of a company name! I settled on SHN Training Services Ltd, worked my notice and I was now my own boss (after Jack of course).
I wanted to offer professional, high quality training so set out to become a Qualsafe Awards recognised training provider allowing me to offer accredited training courses. I achieved this after just 6 months.

Do I regret it? Absolutely not. I love what I do, and I am very passionate about what I do. Yes, its hard work and yes, my working hours are now 24 hours a day, 7 days a week but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am striving to grow the company and have added food safety to our training portfolio and mental health first aid is coming soon.

I look forward to the future.

I hope I have pricked your interest and if you’re interested in first aid, fire safety, food safety, manual handling or health and safety then follow my blog.