We're certified! (And possibly certifiable...but we'll ignore that for now!) We spent 8 hours this last Saturday plus a couple hours Friday night taking a course in First Aid, in Italian, in conjunction with our Sailing course. It was a LONG day and a piece! Chloe spent her Saturday with Anna, Colin and the kids (Friday night we knew she was going to be too bored for the next 8-hour segment and as First Aid training is interactive, it wouldn't have worked out too well-she'd distract everyone else but not staying on her designated chair whenever we got up to observe/participate.) So she got to spent the day with friends. She wasn't too happy about it (she's still shaky being away from us after her broken foot) but she was well cared for! We learned how to bandage wounds, slow blood flow, assess causes of medical problems, administer CPR, apply splints, etc, etc...It was a ton of information! We got an hour break in the middle of the day and since the class was in Agno we got to eat at the pizza place next to the little airport where Kris had met the chef there during his interview for CSCS and who we got to say hi to before we headed back to class.
We were a bit dismayed that most of the instructions included calling an ambulance...when you're out at sea going somewhere other than back to your own mooring for a day or two, you're lucky if you can get to shore within 2 hours, so a bit more in-depth training would have been nice. The instructors only glossed over heatstroke, sunburns, hypothermia, more about which I'd learned in 4-H as a teen, which, being given in conjunction with a sailing course, one would think they'd have tailored it a bit more to the entire subject matter. But the fact that they have the course at all is cool...They give it as a requirement for everyone getting their Driver's License (everyone born in the region) so they have some idea how to stabilize themselves or someone else should they get in a car wreck, etc. I think it's something the US should adopt in association with the Red Cross.
As a result, we're looking into possibly taking first response emergency tech training someday, so we have more hands-on, more detailed training that we can certainly put to use on a boat, and I've been searching for first aid kits similar to the one the teachers had in the classroom-the US Coast Guard sells incredible ones, by the way-they rate each kit by size of crew and how many hours away from shore. Handy piece of information!
If you haven't had First Aid training, I recommend going out and taking a course or two. The Red Cross offers courses and follow up online training, on-site presentation training for your office/family/youth group, etc. And they also have kits for different types of situations for sale. Get certified, know how to possibly save someone's life. Of course, whenever we end up back in the US, we'll get Red Cross certified as well (I'd love to take a whole course in a language that I completely understand!)
Happy Education!
Enjoy,
Allie H.
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