PET FIRST AID COURSE ... COMPLETED!
This weekend I spent my Sunday at a St. John's Ambulance Pet First Aid course.
I thought that since I am going spend my time looking after other people's kitties it would be a good idea to have some first aid skills - just in case. I chose to participate in the course offered by our local St. John's Ambulance chapter.
So much information!! Thank goodness they gave us a very comprehensive book to take home so I can review everything we learned at leisure and to refresh. We covered every possible scenario ... bites, fights, poisons, hyper/hypothermia, broken limbs ... the list just goes on and on.
As part of my college course I had to take a people first aid course where we practiced CPR on a "Resusci-Annie" mannequin, but I was surprised never the less when we were introduced to a dog resuscitation mannequin. We sure got up close and personal with that little rubber puppy ... did you know the best place to take a dog's pulse is right at the top of his hind leg. We also felt his pulse and gave him artificial resuscitation.
We also practiced bandaging, splinting, CPR, muzzling, immobilizing, etc were done on a wide variety of stuffed animals and I am very proud to say they all survived our amateur administrations.
At the end of the day we were presented with an emergency scenario, asked to do all actions necessary provide emergency first aid and prepare the animal for a safe trip to the vet. I guess I did all right since they gave me my certificate and a Pet First Aid kit.
It was a day well spent but, quite frankly, I hope I never need to have use my new knowledge. Definitely one of those better to have and not need than to need and not have experiences.
