Enhance paediatric first aid training review

Picture credit

Disclosure : I was given the opportunity to do this course for free in exchange for a review on my blog.

It is every parents nightmare  for their child to get ill. The thought of your baby stopping breathing or starting to choke is enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up on end.

So the best thing we can do is not spend time worrying about it, but to prepare for how you would handle such an event should it occur.

Enhance first aid services  booked me onto the 12 hour paediatric first aid course. It took place over 2 Saturdays or it is available as an evening course over a longer period.

It costs £65 and at the end of the course you do both a practical exam and a multiple choice paper. If these are passed the you are a certified first aider. This qualification lasts for 3 years and then must be re taken to remain certified and up to speed with current best practice as medical procedures change.

The course was informative and covered:

Allergic reactions
Asthma
Bleeding
Burns
Choking
CPR
Diabetes
Epilepsy
Head injury
Hypothermia and heat stroke
Meningitis
Poisoning
Shock
and sprains and strains

It was taught in a very hands on way and was easy to digest and understand.

The over all thing for me was the confidence I  now feel in the event of an emergency. Despite having done paediatric first aid before I had always worried at the implications of doing it wrong.

CPR in particular. But very plainly put if a child has stopped breathing they are DYING. If their heart has stopped they are technically DEAD.You cannot make them more DEAD but you can save their life by administering those rescue breaths and chest compressions. The worry here is breaking a child's (or adults for that matter) ribs but better to be alive after receiving CPR and with damaged ribs than dead with the ribs intact.

Sorry to put it so bluntly but it really hit it home to me what a valuable skill first aid is, not just as a nursery nurse but as a parent too.

If you have no idea what to do in an emergency should it arise then read up or do a course. It could just be the most valuable lesson you have ever learnt.

These are my views and experience of my first aid training. Training should always be given by a first aid specialist.

(Oh, and by the way I PASSED!)

Wooden sandpit ***review***

*We were sent this item for free in return for a review

We love wooden toys in this house. So when I was approached by the lovely Wooden toyshop to sample whatever I liked (within a set budget) for a review I didn't hesitate and chose this  sandpit for our garden.

Monty is so enamoured with his sandpit we often find him playing outside early in the morning before nursery. Which does then equate in a sandy nursery uniform but never mind.

It's just the right size for our very small garden, and being wooden blends nicely with our decking and doesn't intrude in the way a garish plastic one would.

I was very surprised at the £44.99 price tag which includes the cover as well. We just had to add the sand! Great value for money and would make a great gift for a child with a summer birthday.

My only bug bear is the soft cover is quite hard to pull over the hexagonal shape. I seem to get one side sorted and then the other side pops off and have often ended up straddling the sandpit with my butt in the air trying to get all the sides covered. Also, if it has been raining, which it has this month when removing the cover the rain invariably ends up in the sandpit.

Other than that small moan it is a  great value , classic toy. Easy to put together and will give Monty and Blossom years of enjoyment.