Why training matters

When a new Bronzie was heading into work, they didn't realise how their Bronze Medallion training would become second nature, but they are glad that it did. Read on to hear the first hand account.

Something happened today that has me very grateful for my DMA training.

I arrived at work at in the city and grabbed a coffee outside. As I was walking back, I saw a man lying at the bottom of some concrete stairs outside with people looking over him. I thought I should go over and see if I could help as it didn’t look like anyone was confidently supporting him.

I immediately went down on my knees at his head, took a hold of his head and introduced myself and asked him what had happened. He had a really bad bleed from his head and there was blood pooling around him. I asked him immediately if he was on blood thinners and he said yes. I tired to have a look at where the blood was coming from but was hard to tell.

My first question after introducing myself was “can I help you?” and then I just went into what we had been taught. DRSABC and SAMPLE kicked in. I got him to squeeze my hands, checked what was happening and got someone to call an ambulance. I asked another person to get some towels and another to take down his medications and allergies. He kept bleeding and I needed to apply more pressure to his head. I got the bleeding under control with several towels and various cloths from the cafe.

I stayed with him and kept talking to him. He told me he had felt woozy and unsteady, then fallen sideways and hit the edge of the wall and then fallen forward onto the concrete stairs, hitting his head again.

He was becoming increasingly drowsy and I was worried about his head, but also wondering whether something like a stroke had caused the fall in the first place.

The ambulance arrived and I helped them get him onto the stretcher and gave them a handover. They were really happy with the information I was able to give them and thanked me.

Afterwards I kept thinking about how amazing it was that the training just kicked in. I didn’t really have to think about what I was doing. I just remembered it and went into action.

So I wanted to say a massive thank you to all of you. We do this training and you never really know when you might need it, but when you do, it is pretty bloody amazing to have those skills there.

Still feeling a bit frazzled. But so good to be able to help.