Amanda Norton was just looking around a local event in Huntingdon with her husband and son when she stopped to chat with the volunteer from St John Ambulance. Months later that small incident saved her daughter’s life as from there she became a St John ambulance first aider.
LIFE CHANGING: Amanda Norton whose St John training helped save her daughter’s life.
“The second course I took focused on baby and child care; my daughter went blue on me three times in her first year. If I hadn’t learnt the basic recovery position for a baby she wouldn’t have kept breathing long enough to get to the specialist medical care at the hospital and I don’t think she would be here now.’
This month I have been to visit St John Ambulance HQ in Huntingdon to meet Amanda and her ‘St John Family’. Emma Randall another volunteer tells me, ‘There’s a great camaraderie here between the volunteers. We often find that one member of a family joins and then the children become involved with the badgers (5-10 year olds) or the cadets (10-17 year olds). We’ve also had several St John weddings between people who have met through volunteering at St John Ambulance.’
I can tell that for the volunteers it’s about being the right person at the right time. Amanda sums it up, “I don’t think you can get a bigger buzz than looking after somebody when they’re sick or injured. Because if you make a difference and help make them better then you can’t do any better than that , can you!
“If I can make somebody comfortable and reassured long enough for the emergency crew to arrive then I am making a difference. It’s not always emergency resuscitation or recovery position, sometimes it’s just as simple as holding a hand and looking after the and just waiting for the emergency services to arrive.”
The first aid ethos filters down to the youngest members, I was surprised to learn from Amanda that in addition to the traditional events like camping and trips, even the youngest child is taught how to look after someone in those first few critical minutes. ‘Children are important first aiders as they don’t have the baggage that we adults have of being nervous and self conscious. Think about it. ‘If my daughter is at home with me and I have a coronary who is going to look after me? If I fall down the stairs and I’m unconscious who is going to look after me? My child. We offer simple training sessions so that kids can handle these situations..’ Amanda also runs courses for local schools.
‘Children need to be able to recognise when they should call for the emergency services and they should know the number to dial, their address and their postcode. If you keep it to just those basics then children are in a position to save a life. ‘
With Pat Harrington in the St John Ambulance offices
We’re all familiar with seeing the St John first aiders at public events and Amanda tells me this is a key part of their volunteer work. They even get to combine it with their personal interests. ‘I like heavy metal, so if there’s a concert coming up I’m obviously going to put my name down for that. If you have a specific interest like football or Formula 1 racing or you like to go to the big international cricket matches at Lords and The Oval, you can just put your name down. All your costs will be covered. You can go where you want but if you just want to cover school fetes then that’s great too.’
Peter Miles became a first aider through a course St John were running in his workplace. ‘My best friend was a member of St John ambulance and he just said come along. My first event was at a South Lakes waterski club competition in Paxton. I went as an observer. The first time I went as a first aider was very exciting although I was slightly nervous. You really are holding somebody in your hands although I knew I had the backup of my colleagues and the great training that I had received from St John. ‘
Peter tells me that we can all learn 5 basic things to save a life in one and a half hours. Recovery, resuscitation, choking. bleeding, heart attack. With those basic 5 skills you can go out there and save a life.
TRAINING AID: Emma Randall introduces Rebecca to ‘Miss Bones’
It always gives me heart to find people who won’t just walk past someone in need but will reach out a helping hand. It was refreshing and truly heartening to meet a group of people who are prepared to put themselves on the front line helping other people in emergency situations. The St John Ambulance volunteers give us all a reason for hope and are secret heroes within our society.
FACTS
Last year St John Ambulance taught 800,000 people about first aid.
150,000 lives per year could be saved if more people in our community took a first aid course with St John
Call 01480 847 300 to get yourself onto a first aid course.
rebeccadjanogly 
Leave a comment