It was very much “hands on” when CrestClean’s Hamilton personnel got to grips with learning what to do in an emergency situation.
A special course put on by the Master Cleaners Training Institute involved written material and practical demonstrations of techniques that could potentially help save lives.
The First Aid Awareness course was run by the training institute’s CEO Adam Hodge, who said the event had been well received.
Participants on the three-hour course got the chance to practise CPR, a technique involving repeated cycles of compression of the chest and artificial respiration on a person who has suffered cardiac arrest.
The course covered basic first aid and included advice on how to deal with burns, choking, broken bones, and hypothermia.
Adam said the training event was in response to site-specific health and safety requirements by a number of customers.
“Some of our customers request that our franchisees have a basic knowledge of first aid or awareness of first aid.”
Topics covered were not just applicable to workplace situations, said Adam.
“While the course was directly drawn up for the customer, all of this information is useful in a family situation.
“We include a lot of information for our franchisees, so if their family members ever needed CPR or were choking or received burns in the house they can apply this information they have received to their own situation.”
Adam stressed that in serious situations people were advised to always call the emergency services but having some first aid knowledge could make all the difference in the time before professional help arrived. “These are the steps you can take that may save somebody’s life.”
Nivitesh Kumar, CrestClean’s Waikato Regional Manager, also attended the course.
“It was really helpful, not only in terms of a work situation. If I need to help somebody by giving them first aid I can do it more confidently,” he said.
“The best part was getting to know how to respond if there is an emergency and a person is requiring first aid attention and how to keep them alive until the paramedics arrive.
“Everyone on the course benefited from learning the procedures and tips and the awareness of what to do if there was an accident or someone became ill.”
