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Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view

Category: Dirty First Aid

World First Aid Day

8 September 2018 / / 0 Comments

It is World First Aid day, so it seems an appropriate time for the superb Dirty First Aid series.

We all love to kayak, sure. It has some things we love and some we hate. First Aid often becomes the elephant in the room.

When was the last time you or your peers did a course or a workshop? Do you keep ‘up to speed’ on developments?

In this series I am pleased to offer a ‘dirty’ First Aid approach. This is suited to kayakers and river users. Using a ‘find it fix it’ approach to incident care and management.

Dirty First Aid - The Series
World First Aid Day

This first article will lay the foundations of rapid emergency aid. It’s a simple approach that a basic personal First Aid kit and things carried on you can deal with. Now is not the time to discuss what you should or should not carry in your kit. Read the series and make your own mind up.

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Dirty First Aid Series – Part 6

22 April 2016 / / 0 Comments

So we all had a break from the Dirty First Aid, bet you are glad?

Well now lets be quick, lets be simple.

Kayakers, Sup guys n’ gals, Canoeists we all have our own thoughts about breaks and dislocations – but lets get down and dirty.

Unsponsored-Dirty First Aid Series - Part 6 5

It’s simple – immobilise as easy and quick as possible, lets not get caught up with which sling is best, which way to strap.

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Dirty First Aid Series – Part 5

2 March 2016 / / 2 Comments

Welcome to Dirty First Aid Series – Part 5 which will focus on Hypothermia.

Paddlers, no matter the discipline or location can all suffer from Hypothermia – a condition brought about due to the lowering of the core body temperature. Its final stage is death. Hypothermia is caused when someone cannot produce enough heat themselves to fight the effects of cold. Immersion in colder water, cold air temperature or exhaustion are the usual suspects. The former is the one that we will look at now – principally because it’s the one that we come across most often as paddlers.

Dirty First Aid Series - Part 5

Immersion hypothermia can mean that the body hasn’t depleated all its energy reserves, meaning the casualty can possibly respond quicker and recover with simple #hacks #dirtywork.

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Dirty First Aid Series – Part 4

28 February 2016 / / 0 Comments

Lets just recap the principles of First Aid:

To preserve life
To protect the casualty from further harm
To promote recovery

Remember here that it also goes past the ‘find it, fix it’ to after care. Keep looking out for delayed symptoms and general health following the incident.

Good river guides come across this on a daily basis.

It’s about client care first and foremost.

This short tale from raft guide trainer Mark Hirst highlights the issues.

Dirty First Aid - Part 4

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Dirty First Aid Series – Part 3

7 February 2016 / / 0 Comments

Dirty First Aid – Part 3 now, and it’s not all that down and dirty. It will come trust me on that.

Dirty First Aid - Part 3

We have in the last two pieces looked at a conscious casualty – we didn’t discuss some things, as this series is not an excuse for not taking a course.

Now lets move on to an unconscious casualty.

With an unconscious casualty your priorities are:

1) Open Airway
2) Maintain Blood Circulation
3) To Breath For Them

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Dirty First Aid Series – Part 2

2 February 2016 / / 2 Comments

In this series I am pleased to offer a ‘dirty’ First Aid approach. This is suited to kayakers and river users. Using a ‘find it fix it’ approach to incident care and management.

Dirty First Aid - The Series

In our last article we looked at the Primary Assessment of a casualty. Now we move forward to a secondary assessment – here we deal direct with an injury or medical condition.

We will under take a full head to toe exam. Time to take a SAMPLE and deal with obvious injuries. Lets not rush at it – it needs to be spot on.

S – Signs and symptoms
A – Allergies
M – Medications
P – Previous medical issues
L – Last meal
E – Events

This sample is simple, we find it we fix it.

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Dirty First Aid Series – Part I

22 January 2016 / / 2 Comments

We all love to kayak, sure. It has some things we love and some we hate. First Aid often becomes the elephant in the room.

When was the last time you or your peers did a course or a workshop? Do you keep ‘up to speed’ on developments?

In this series I am pleased to offer a ‘dirty’ First Aid approach. This is suited to kayakers and river users. Using a ‘find it fix it’ approach to incident care and management.

Dirty First Aid - The Series
Dirty First Aid Series – Part I

This first article will lay the foundations of rapid emergency aid. It’s a simple approach that a basic personal First Aid kit and things carried on you can deal with. Now is not the time to discuss what you should or should not carry in your kit. Read the series and make your own mind up.

Continue reading

Dirty First Aid – The Series

21 January 2016 / / 0 Comments

Old man river Darren Clarkson-King (DAZ) will be supplying a series of ‘Dirty First Aid’ articles for Unsponsored. The series of articles will be posted here over the next few months and will centre around first aid for river runners.

Dirty First Aid - The Series

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