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I have participated in some limited discussions here at FR about preparedness issues and I have always found the responses to be extremely helpful, so I thought a focused discussion issue would be appropriate. What is an adequate level of preparedness when it comes to First Aid?? Where do you strike an acceptable balance that is right for your situation, fits your budget and fits your personal skills and comfort level? When it comes to preparedness issues, the first thing any expert tells you is to make a plan that fits your needs and personal situation. A retired couple has...

A bilingual, bicultural advisor with the 364th Civil Affairs Brigade instructs members of the Basrah International Airport fire department during a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation class as part of a four week refresher training hosted by the Baghdad International Airport fire department. Photo by Staff Sgt. Luke Koladish, 114th Public Affairs Detachment. BASRAH — Fifteen members of the Basrah International Airport fire department conducted Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation training last week at the Baghdad International Airport in an effort to have the two airports certified by the International Civil Aviation Organization. "The ICAO requires the departments have certain standards; response times, the quality of...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE CALDWELL, Iraq – A 10th Combat Aviation Brigade medic with Iraqi policemen assigned to his team took the opportunity to teach the local law enforcers some life-savings skills at Forward Operating Base Caldwell Dec. 29 through Jan. 4. Staff Sgt. Derek Sheppard, senior company medic, learned the Iraqi Police receive no formal first-aid training while some IP’s were assigned to the Pathfinders of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 10th CAB. Once he realized the need, Sheppard took it upon himself to offer the training during down time between missions. “Being a medic, it is my job to ensure...

U.S. doctors have found the Bee Gees 1977 disco anthem "Stayin' Alive" provides an ideal beat to follow while performing chest compressions as part of CPR on a heart attack victim.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2008 – Two new first-aid products being sent into the combat theater could save more soldiers’ lives, Army medical officials said at a Pentagon news conference Oct. 15. Test results from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s Institute of Surgical Research showed Combat Gauze field bandages and WoundStat granules both demonstrated marked improvements over what’s currently used in the field, Army Col. (Dr.) Paul Cordts of the Army surgeon general’s office said. “These products improve survival, result in less blood loss and improved post-injury blood pressures,” he said. Excessive blood loss is the No. 1...

In my new job I have just been handed the task of putting together a disaster readiness plan that addresses everything from building evacuation, first aid, logistics, and everything else. I got the job because for my sins, I am the only veteran in the company, and I was just a squid. If anyone else out there has experience in this sort of thing, I would appreciate some help. I have to have something on paper by 0900 tomorrow morning. The good news is I have (within reason) a blank check as to how to put it together and purchasing...

You can skip the mouth-to-mouth breathing and just press on the chest to save a life. In a major change, the American Heart Association said Monday that hands-only CPR - rapid, deep presses on the victim's chest until help arrives - works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults. Experts hope bystanders will now be more willing to jump in and help if they see someone suddenly collapse. Hands-only CPR is simpler and easier to remember and removes a big barrier for people skittish about the mouth-to-mouth breathing. "You only have to do two things....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHANK, Afghanistan, Feb. 29, 2008 – Two combat medics have devoted their time to teaching Afghan police officers one of the most important soldier skills: first aid. New York Army National Guard Spc. Richard L. Bacher, a medic with 1st Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment, , helps a student find his radial pulse during a first aid class given to Logar Province Afghan National Police, Feb. 20, 2008, at Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan. Photo by Sgt. Matthew Clifton, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Every other week, Army Sgt. 1st Class Maurice Wells, Joint Forces...

NEW YORK - American Airlines on Monday insisted it tried to help a passenger who died after complaining she couldn't breathe, and disputed the account of a relative who said that she was denied oxygen and that medical devices failed. The airline said the oxygen tanks and a defibrillator were working and noted that several medical professionals on the flight, including a doctor, tried to save passenger Carine Desir, 44, who had heart disease. "American Airlines, after investigation, has determined that oxygen was administered on the aircraft, and it was working, and the defibrillator was applied as well," airline spokesman...

A passenger returning home to New York from Haiti collapsed and died aboard an American Airlines flight after a flight attendant first told her that he could not give her any oxygen, and then brought her an oxygen tank that was empty, a relative said on Sunday.< > Mr. Oliver said two doctors and two nurses who were aboard tried to administer oxygen from a second tank, which was also empty.< >Ms. Desir was pronounced dead by one of the doctors, Joel Shulkin, and the flight continued on to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Her body was moved to the...

NEW YORK — An American Airlines passenger died after a flight attendant told her he couldn't give her any oxygen and then tried to help her with faulty equipment, including an empty oxygen tank, a relative said. The airline confirmed the flight death and said medical professionals had tried to save the passenger, Carine Desir, who was returning home to Brooklyn from Haiti. Desir, who had heart disease, died of natural causes, medical examiner's office spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said Sunday. Desir had complained of not feeling well and being very thirsty on the Friday flight from Port-au-Prince after she ate...

I have been away for 16 days. Were it not for the actions of one man, it may have been much longer before I could be here, writing this, and maybe this writing may not have been possible. On December 3rd I was mugged by a falling tree, at least that is what the eyewitnesses say. My memory of the events begins only much later, when I here the voice of Rabbi Yehoshua Kaganoff telling me not to move, that everything is O.K., that the EMT crew is on the way - as sat holding me, with one arm around...

BLACKSBURG, Va. — The gunman in the Virginia Tech massacre was a sullen loner who alarmed professors and classmates with his twisted, blood-drenched creative writing and left a rambling note in his dorm room raging against women and rich kids.  A chilling picture emerged Tuesday of Cho Seung-Hui — a 23-year-old senior majoring in English — a day after the bloodbath that left 33 people dead, including Cho, who killed himself as police closed in. News reports said that he may have been taking medication for depression and that he was becoming increasingly violent and erratic. Despite the many warning...

Chainsaw man stayed alive by keeping cool KAY BLUNDELLThe Dominion PostSaturday, 10 March 2007 Grit and determination to get help without blacking out was the difference between life and death for a Waikanae man who sliced open his face with a chainsaw. Chas Marshall, 35, was cutting firewood for a friend in End Farm Rd, Waikanae, last Wednesday when his chainsaw kicked back into his face, inflicting a deep cut from his eyebrows to his chin. "For a split second I did not know what happened – it just kicked back. "I was numb, I could not feel anything, just...

COP NIMUR — Troops from 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, spent four days training Iraqi security forces in first aid, and provided them with some advanced medical techniques at Combat Outpost Nimur. The class consisted of 28 Iraqi Army soldiers, four Sinjar area Iraqi police and five Iraqi border policemen. One of the instructors of the course was Sgt. Richard Kyle, combat medic, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3-4 Cavalry, a unit based out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. “We were teaching them the Combat Lifesaver course,” he explained. “This was an...

Several Martinsville High School students say teachers stopped their calls to 911 while a fellow student was choking, because cell phones aren't allowed on campus. Witnesses tell police the victim was rushing to finish his lunch before leaving the cafeteria, because you can't bring food outside. That's when they say he started choking, went into cardiac arrest, and died at the hospital. Multiple 911 calls went out from Martinsville High School. Witnesses say Jesse Tucker choked on a hamburger. Paramedics rushed the 15 year-old freshman to the hospital, where he later died. "It's really hard to grasp the fact that...

DALLAS. Nov. 28 - When it comes to CPR, doubling the number of chest compressions and delivering them more quickly is the key to saving a life, according to the American Heart Association's revised guidelines issued today. The updated guidelines call for 30 chest compressions delivered hard and fast for every two breaths administered by a single rescuer aiding a patient with cardiac arrest. That's a doubling from the 15:2 ratio, or 15 chest compressions for every two breaths, previously recommended. The guidelines, intended for everyone from bystanders to trained paramedics, were presented at a press conference here and were...

ASSOCIATED PRESS DALLAS -- Too busy to take a four-hour CPR course? New research shows the lifesaving procedure can be effectively taught in a little more than 20 minutes. The finding, presented Sunday at an American Heart Association meeting in Dallas, could broadly expand the number of Americans who can perform CPR. "It's brilliant," said Dr. Lance Becker, director of the Emergency Resuscitation Center at the University of Chicago. "I think it's going to make our ability to train people much, much easier." The study, led by Dr. Ahamed Idris, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern...

Poison Ivy Basics Poison ivy is a red, itchy rash caused by the plant that bears its name. Many people get it when they are hiking or working in their garden and accidentally come into direct contact with the plant's leaves, roots, or stems. The poison ivy rash often looks like red lines, and sometimes it forms blisters. The culprit behind the rash is a chemical in the sap of poison ivy plants called urushiol (oo-roo-shee-ohl). Its name comes from the Japanese word "urushi," meaning lacquer. Urushiol is the same substance that triggers an allergic reaction when people touch...

Video Depicting Terrorists´ Use of UN Ambulance Released 01:37 May 31, '04 / 11 Sivan 5764 A new video, made available over the Internet, clearly depicts Arab terrorists using a United Nations ambulance as a getaway car during recent Gaza attacks. Much has been reported – albeit not in the Western press – about United Nations and Red Crescent vehicles transporting terrorists and firearms. Now a web site called Access Middle East has obtained footage taken on May 11 in Gaza's Zeitoun district by a Reuters cameraman of UN ambulances being used by Arab terrorists to transport weapons and personnel....