A workshop conducted by Dr. Sandya Somaweera consultant anesthetist at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka, on preliminary first aid and how to handle basic medical emergencies with care, was held on the 31st of October 2019 at Achievers Lanka Business School from 7:00 pm onwards.
Fellow club members and the students of Achievers Lanka Business School were present at the workshop.
First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person suffering from either minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial intervention in a serious condition prior to professional medical help being available, such as performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) while waiting for an ambulance, as well as the complete treatment of minor conditions, such as applying a plaster to a cut. First aid is generally performed by someone with basic medical training. Mental health first aid is an extension of the concept of first aid to cover mental health, while psychological first aid is used as early treatment of people who are at risk for developing PTSD.
There are many situations that may require first aid, and many countries have legislation, regulation, or guidance which specifies a minimum level of first aid provision in certain circumstances. This can include specific training or equipment to be available in the workplace (such as an automated external defibrillator), the provision of specialist first aid cover at public gatherings, or mandatory first aid training within schools. First aid, however, does not necessarily require any particular equipment or prior knowledge and can involve improvisation with materials available at the time, often by untrained people.
We also had an interesting presentation by Dr. Sandya Somaweera on the importance of first aid and she also taught us what we need to do when necessary first aid is needed in unexpected situations. For example, we were taught what we have to do when we wanted to replace a tooth, how we have to do necessary first aid for burns and cuts and what we need to do when a person faints, etc.
A dummy was bought alone with Dr. Sandya Somaweera where we also did practical first aid on what we need to do when a person gets choaked. Dr. Sandya Somaweera demonstrated on how we need to carry out the needful first aid.
And following that our fellow club members too did try out on how the necessary first aid needs to be done using the dummy.
There was an extremely interesting question and answer session, where we gained additional knowledge on basic first aid.
By 8.45 pm we ended the workshop successfully.
Rtr. Rukaiya Shahabdeen
Editor