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First aid

Intro

What would you do if you were suddenly confronted with one of the following situations?

• During class, a student suddenly falls to the floor with no respiration or pulse.
• While sparring, a student is knocked out or is pinched in the throat and the trachea is compressed obstructing the airway.
• A student runs to you grabbing his throat and indicating something is obstructing his airway.
• While punching a bag, a student breaks a finger.
• While sparring, a student sprains an ankle.

You may find yourself the first to render aid to another person. Are you ready, willing, and able to render aid? To be able, you need prior training. To be ready, you need the proper supplies and or equipment, or you need to know how to improvise. To be willing means you are willing to risk your wellbeing to help another; if you are a true martial artist and a warrior, this is never a problem.

Red Cross training

An instructor or a student's life may depend on your ability to perform immediate and adequate resuscitation. Airway obstruction is an emergency situation that must be recognized and treated immediately since inevitably leads to loss of consciousness, followed by heart arrest, and, once the heart stops beating, irreversible brain damage and death will follow within 4 to 6 minutes unless effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is administered.

All instructors should have Red Cross first aid training and CPR certification. For school owners, it’s the cost of doing business. Students should be encouraged to get the training in case they have to respond to a person who needs help. If a student thinks they may want to instruct at some future time, they should get the training to show their instructors that they are serious about being instructors. Instructors who want to further their training should train to be first aid and CPR trainers.

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