FIRST-AID

I'm naturally prone to anxiety. During my pregnancy, I would have a serious crisis at least once a month. The worst episode culminated with me crying at work due to a misunderstanding with a colleague, to the point that I had to go home. I thought I was just being "hormonal". I thought it would get better after I gave birth. It didn't.

If you send me an article about SIDS, I won't sleep. Then there is a heartfelt report from a mother pleading parents to learn first-aid that has been circulating (read: haunting me) on social media lately, which is why I jumped at the opportunity to attend a children and infant first-aid course, dragging my husband along with me. 

ASB (Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund) offers one voucher per year to members who wish to attend first-aid courses for adults, elderly, children, etc. Without the voucher, the course costs 40EUR (but you can become an ASB member by donating as little as 24EUR/year). I became a member by chance as ASB volunteers knocked on my door, but I was sold when they told me about the possibility of taking the course.

Granted, it was all in German. YY was frustrated at first, as he felt like we weren't getting all that we could from it due to the language barrier. But regardless, it was definitely worth our time and the paranoia that followed.

A few takeaways, or just interesting facts:

• There are two species of poisonous spiders in Germany (!!)
• The worst disease-transmitting animals for children are: 1. Rats, 2. Cats, 3. Humans (kids bite!)
• 50% of fatal accidents with babies involve drowning
• There's LOTS of wasps hidding in bakery-bought donuts
• The vast majority of accidents happen at home; the second majority happen during free-time
• First-aid must happen within 2-3 minutes at the event of serious injury involving the brain, the heart or the lungs. 
• The German average time for help to arrive is 15 minutes; in Munich, it's 8 minutes (hence the importance of knowing first-aid)
• Knowing the right emergency number to call is KEY. The right number = the right questions being asked, and that saves time, which can save a life
• People who work in childcare don't have the right to clean a wound with water, as that's considered "wound-cleaning" and this being Germany only doctors/paramedics have the right to perform it. Parents are allowed to forgo this rule.
• Finally, we did some practical CPR exercises on a baby doll and child doll, which gave me the creeps

The course lasted for a good chunk of the day (9am-2:30pm), so we obviously learned much more than that. We were taught what to do at the event of choking, eating insects, hypothermia, heat insolation, unconsciousness with/without breathing etc., and we got the booklet with brilliant 90s stock footage, which lightened my heart at the end of such a tension-packed workshop (for me, at least).

Did I get to sleep better after attending the course? Nope. But would I recommend it to anyone caring for a tiny person? Absolutely.