And yet a second TQ isn’t in the kit, but they kept that…
It is such a nonsense.
Really we should be knocking on St John’s door demanding all these be included in AFA, then demanding kit we need.
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Yep. I called that out during the course and didn’t get a decent response.
They used to do a +F forestry bolt on that covered dealing with cat bleeds and major trauma. I think that integrated into AFA would be fantastic!
I have a couple of thoughts, here.
Firstly, I’m pretty sure the control of catastrophic haemorrhage being taught (including the CABC or equivalent approach) was a recommendation from the Manchester arena enquiry. Whilst I appreciate coronial recommendations sometimes have a hard time being translated to practical life, this one always struck me as an eminently sensible idea and one that all first aid providers (such as SJA) should be scrambling to get on board with. Our young people should be empowered to deal with life threatening bleeds wherever they see them, and I would advocate them being included at EFA level - it truly is an essential skill.
Secondly, the SARAH act (Good Samaritan law) will protect people acting to save a life within the scope of their training, whether or not the relevant “parent” organisation is the one who gave them that specific bit of training. The only thing you must not do is make the casualty’s condition worse.
So, if you have what you believe to be a life threatening bleed and you have no other way of controlling it, by all means chuck a TQ on if you know how! Just please make sure you write the time on it - it really is important! (And, if you can, draw a big red T on the casualty’s forehead)
(Keep in mind a stepwise approach to bleed control - a TQ applied when not needed/when there is a suitable alternative could be argued as making things worse…)
It initially entered the conversation following 7/7, then lessons learned in the military mainly from Afghanistan brought it even further forward in mainstream medical and first aid circles.
I did my first cat bleed bolt on in 2017.