Safety first (aid)!

by Paul Seabrook

I’m pleased to report that a good number of GMCers and the odd friend of the GMC took a day out of their lives recently to refresh their first aid skills.

As we all accept and understand, climbing and mountaineering carry some risk of personal injury. Immediate first aid assistance from a climbing partner and others close at hand is likely to be critical. Following a sea cliff accident I was closely involved with, it took over 5hrs from the time of the accident to the casualty getting airlifted in the air ambulance, but there were several first aiders on hand much more quickly.

It’d been years since I’d done any formal training, and speaking to friends in the club and others I thought I’d organise a one day focussed course with outdoor practical training delivered by a local specialist “Surrey First Aid”.

On Sunday 21/5/23,  eleven of us spent a day with Tony the Trainer in the education centre at Merrist Wood having a thorough refresh of the critical elements applicable to climbing and mountaineering. The day was very practical in nature, with a high degree of interaction in the morning classroom sessions to build up physical skills and accelerate decision making, followed in the afternoon by a series of increasingly complex accident scenarios played out in the fields outside to simulate the real world. Participants took the role of casualty and first responder in turn, with some acting-up well beyond their RADA training!

I know several participants found that the training they’d received 20-25 years ago was a significant step away from current best practice. The updated training was very focussed on the key things needed to help a casualty in the time between an accident and the arrival of professionals! Additionally, having completed and passed the course we’ll have ongoing access to online training resources and updates training through web based briefings.

From the feedback I’ve had so far,  the day was fun, challenging, informative and education in equal measure, and most importantly it built a degree of confidence that we’d all be better prepared in the event of a real incident on a day out climbing. 

And if you ever need to choose between a corridor of fire, a machete wielding madman or a group of starved lions just ask!!

Stay Safe!