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In my first aid course in Australia the teacher told us we are not allowed to be taught wound packing and that if anyone asks we didn't learn it - before tellin

by hnick 5y ago

In my first aid course in Australia the teacher told us we are not allowed to be taught wound packing and that if anyone asks we didn't learn it - before telling us about it. He'd been in the military where it might see some use and apparently wound packing is also recommended in the US, but over here I guess it's needed rarely enough that teaching everyone might cause more harm than good.

jackson1442 5y ago
It might also be because it was a part of a "first aid" course and not a more professional course or certification. In my lifeguard certification here in the states, for example, they explicitly don't train on tourniquets because we had an on-site EMT that would do the more dramatic procedures like that before an ambulance arrived. Tourniquets are definitely a last-resort measure and an untrained provider using one can certainly cause more harm than good, so it was omitted from training at our level. The same might apply to wound packing- knowing _when_ to use it is harder to teach than _how_ so many people don't understand when it is appropriate, which could be dangerous.
- hnick 5y ago
  It was accredited, the type of course you get told to do if you have certain responsibilities like volunteer teaching a class where it might be necessary, or the sort of thing you need a few people per floor to have at work for OHS. I assume people who make a career about it get more into the advanced topics. Being in Australia, we covered snakes, spiders, and jellyfish more than some countries would, while gunshot trauma wasn't really mentioned in a large amount of detail.
- JshWright 5y ago
  > Tourniquets are definitely a last-resort measure and an untrained provider using one can certainly cause more harm than good This is a bit of a stigma that is starting to get cleared up. Tourniquets should be a "first resort" for significant bleeding in a limb that can't be easily controlled with direct pressure. Protocols used to involve all sorts of additional things to try (elevate the limb, use pressure points, apply more dressings/pressure, etc). Now it's "Squeeze the wound with gauze and a gloved hand. Did it stop? No? Apply a tourniquet." Assuming someone gets to a hospital within a reasonable period of time (where "reasonable" is "within a couple hours"), there is very little risk in applying a tourniquet.
  - jackson1442 5y ago
    Interesting. This was a few years ago so my memory of the actual class is rather fuzzy, especially considering I have taken more first-aid/CPR classes than I can count. I've learned how to do a tourniquet probably as many times as I've been told that I shouldn't do tourniquets, it really seems to depend on the organization and instructor. I think RedCross taught tourniquets as a last-resort but Ellis didn't even touch them because Ellis facilities are generally waterparks with on-site EMTs.
JshWright 5y ago
Wound packing is part of the "Stop the Bleed" training that is increasingly common in the US. It's not a hard skill, and just like tourniquet usage, it is one of the few skills that can actually save someone's life. https://www.stopthebleed.org/ https://www.stopthebleed.org/

by hnick 5y ago

jackson1442 5y ago

It might also be because it was a part of a "first aid" course and not a more professional course or certification. In my lifeguard certification here in the states, for example, they explicitly don't train on tourniquets because we had an on-site EMT that would do the more dramatic procedures like that before an ambulance arrived. Tourniquets are definitely a last-resort measure and an untrained provider using one can certainly cause more harm than good, so it was omitted from training at our level. The same might apply to wound packing- knowing _when_ to use it is harder to teach than _how_ so many people don't understand when it is appropriate, which could be dangerous.

hnick 5y ago
It was accredited, the type of course you get told to do if you have certain responsibilities like volunteer teaching a class where it might be necessary, or the sort of thing you need a few people per floor to have at work for OHS. I assume people who make a career about it get more into the advanced topics. Being in Australia, we covered snakes, spiders, and jellyfish more than some countries would, while gunshot trauma wasn't really mentioned in a large amount of detail.
JshWright 5y ago
> Tourniquets are definitely a last-resort measure and an untrained provider using one can certainly cause more harm than good This is a bit of a stigma that is starting to get cleared up. Tourniquets should be a "first resort" for significant bleeding in a limb that can't be easily controlled with direct pressure. Protocols used to involve all sorts of additional things to try (elevate the limb, use pressure points, apply more dressings/pressure, etc). Now it's "Squeeze the wound with gauze and a gloved hand. Did it stop? No? Apply a tourniquet." Assuming someone gets to a hospital within a reasonable period of time (where "reasonable" is "within a couple hours"), there is very little risk in applying a tourniquet.
- jackson1442 5y ago
  Interesting. This was a few years ago so my memory of the actual class is rather fuzzy, especially considering I have taken more first-aid/CPR classes than I can count. I've learned how to do a tourniquet probably as many times as I've been told that I shouldn't do tourniquets, it really seems to depend on the organization and instructor. I think RedCross taught tourniquets as a last-resort but Ellis didn't even touch them because Ellis facilities are generally waterparks with on-site EMTs.

JshWright 5y ago

Wound packing is part of the "Stop the Bleed" training that is increasingly common in the US. It's not a hard skill, and just like tourniquet usage, it is one of the few skills that can actually save someone's life. https://www.stopthebleed.org/ https://www.stopthebleed.org/