St John Esperance 60th Anniversary Series part 1

Sun safety and CPR


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St. John Ambulance Esperance is celebrating 60 years of volunteer operations in Esperance and surrounding areas! To help celebrate Triple M are doing a three-part on air series leading up to the St John Open Day on Saturday the March 17

Stay tuned every Thursday to hear how the St John Service runs in Esperance, it’s history (there is a cracking origin story) and some helpful First Aid tips.

This week:

Sunscreen and Sun Safety

We can all appreciate just how harsh the Esperance sun is and, considering your skin is the largest organ in/on the human body, it is very important to take care of it.

Covering up with appropriate clothing or retreating out of the sun’s rays is your first point of call, however if you do have to expose your skin then sunscreen is essential.

Apply sunscreen liberally at least twenty minutes before you jump out in the sun, and then every half an hour thereafter to ensure you don’t turn pink.

Other important tips, keep your sunscreen in a cool place out of the sun NOT in the car or out with you at the park or on the beach. Sunscreen left in the heat will become less effective!

Also, don’t forget to check the expiry… sunblock DOES expire, after a year or so. If you’ve had one lying around for years, it might be time to replace it.

And if you do see an unusual, dark mark on your skin please, go see a GP or skin specialist to get it checked.

CPR

Can’t go into too much detail here for legal reasons, but there has been changes to the CPR process recently. As best as you can follow your ‘DRABC’ as you remember, but the main change is if you don’t feel comfortable giving the unconscious person a breath than you don’t have to.

Just remember, two hands placed on top of one another on the chest of the unconscious person, short compressions, about a third into the chest. Aim for a two compressions per second for about a minute.

If you have access to a defibrillator use it after the minute of compressions. Attach the pads to the chest and follow the machine prompts.

REMEMBER ALWAYS CALL THE AMBULANCE (000) IMMEDIATELY ONCE AN INCIDENT OCCURS.

This is only basic advice. To become trained at CPR and receive other important First Aid Advice, please contact the St John Ambulance Esperance Sub-Centre on (08) 9071 1618.

2 March 2018




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