FIRST AID AND CPR COURSE

By the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI)

Call or email (Click HERE to Send E-mail to Deep-Six) Deep-Six to express your interest in taking a First Aid/CPR, and/or Oxygen Administration or AED course. The cost is $50 and the textbook is $35. The benefit is great! 845-255-7446 is the number.

THE NEXT COURSE IS SCHEDULED FOR (DATE TOO BE SET - CALL IF YOU HAVE A DATE!) FROM 0930 TO 1730 - 9:30 AM TO 5:30 PM.

NAUI First Aid can be conducted as a comprehensive course including all the segments (First Aid, CPR, AED, Blood-borne Pathogens and Emergency Oxygen Administration) in a single schedule or each of the segments may be delivered separately to meet specific needs of the students who may only need training in one discipline or another. Certification and recognition materials are delivered in a package with the textbook and are designed to be flexible so that you may name some or all of the qualifications earned. In any case the certification is valid for a two year period after which the student must complete refresher training, and a practical and theoretical exam.

Academic Sessions (Overview)

The academics are divided into 9 sections containing 18 units. The entire course is taught from 0930 to 1730 with a short break for lunch. Lunch is not provided!

Unit 1: Introduction to the NAUI First Aid Course

This unit covers the value and importance of learning appropriate responses for unexpected medical emergencies, whether related to diving, travel, or in your home or community.
Depending on the outcome desired, this course may qualify graduates for two-year certifications in one or all of the following first aid, CPR, AED, Emergency Oxygen Administration, Blood-borne Pathogens.
This is a course (when taken in its entirety) that involves lifting, manikin practice and use of disinfecting solutions. It is advisable that participants should wear old, comfortable clothes that will not be missed if damaged during class, especially when using hypochlorite to disinfect manikins or performing the lifts and carries in the last unit of instruction.

Unit 2: Blood-borne Pathogens

This unit when combined with the material presented in Unit One represents a discrete course of instruction that qualifies the graduate to receive certification in the necessary precautions and preventing transmission of Blood-borne Pathogens.
This unit is part of the introduction section because it further explains the precautions to follow in order to avoid disease transmission from blood-borne pathogens while aiding a victim and that universally apply to virtually all first aid situations.
Students should be aware that the pathogens are dangerous, but that the risks they represent can be ameliorated by following common sense precautions.
Victim Assessment: This section introduces human anatomy as it pertains to first aid and the relationship between immediate first aid, activating the EMS, maintaining aid to the victim, and the eventual outcomes.

Unit 3: Victim Anatomy

This unit provides an overview of the major bodily systems and of the parts of the body.
This unit provides a "road map" and "operating manual" of the victim.

Unit 4: Emergency Response and Victim Assessment

Accurate needs assessment is the first step in providing effective aid, reminding students that their initial steps are to ensure their own safety, making sure that the scene is safe for their intervention.
It cannot be stressed enough that first aid is only part of the necessary response to an accident or medical emergency. A successful first aid experience is one that stabilizes the victim, and as soon as possible transfers the injured or ill person on to professional medical care. In a serious incident, first aid is never enough, and delaying the transfer to professionals places the victim into further jeopardy.

Basic Life Support: In this section we explore artificial respiration (or rescue breathing), heart disease, sudden cardiac arrest, and CPR, as well as obstructed airway procedures or foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO).

Unit 5: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

CPR is a skill, and the only way to learn any skill and to maintain proficiency is through drill and practice.
Critical learning issues in this unit include mastering the depth and frequency of compressions, and learning to open the airway effectively.

Unit 6: Foreign Body Airway Obstruction

This unit also distinguishes between CPR and Rescue Breathing more thoroughly since neither is possible unless a complete airway obstruction is cleared.

Adjunct Life Support (Units 7 and 8 are optional to the First Aid/CPR course)

Unlike the previous section, this is an equipment-based learning experience. Students will be tasked with manipulating and mastering devices with which they are most likely unfamiliar.

Unit 7: Emergency Oxygen Administration

Handling oxygen, especially in an emergency, entails risk. Students must understand the precautions and safe handling procedures for oxygen, its relationship to fire, and its potential for mishap.
Because this is an equipment-intensive unit, plan the time for each student to be able to assemble and disassemble an oxygen kit. Under the best circumstances, different types of oxygen administration kits will be available.

Unit 8: Automated External Defibrillation

Commercially available AEDs include directions, and are designed to be used by lay persons.
There will be times when the device will advise NOT to shock. Students need to understand that the machine's sensor will help to rule out when an apparent SCA victim is not in arrest or dangerous arrhythmia or when defibrillation is not practicable.
Students must understand that AED usage and CPR are complementary therapeutic interventions. Unless the victim responds positively to the AED's shock, CPR is providing the only chance of recovery, and should be continued per the previously covered protocols: as long as possible, or until relieved by professional rescuers, or the victim recovers.

Bleeding and Shock

Unit 9: Bleeding

Students should use universal precautions when around blood or bodily fluids and ensure good practice with barriers, gloves, etc. throughout your course
Going through the various types of wounds covered after pressure bandaging.

Unit 10: Shock

Shock is a term is often misused. We will cover the clinical definition. We will stress also that different individuals will have different tolerances for circulatory compromise.
Treating for shock is often overlooked when providing first aid.

Injuries and Wounds

Unit 11: Soft Tissue Injuries

Develop a good "bedside manner," i.e., the ability to inspire confidence, and more importantly, cooperation from those they aid.
Bandaging practice provides an additional opportunity for students to develop their "bedside manner."

Unit 12: Musculoskeletal Injuries

Students will be reminded that "do no harm" means that many times just keeping victims from moving or further injury and treating them for shock may be all that is necessary until advanced help arrives at the scene.
Generally, a splint is a temporary device used to immobilize the broken bone and the adjacent joints.
Cold therapy (ice packs) should never be applied directly to the skin. Always use a cloth or towel to protect the skin and prevent further injury.

Medical Emergencies

Unit 13: Poisoning, stings and bites

Stings, bites, and general first aid procedures for injuries that typically occur in the locality.
For NAUI divers the course will include the material on sea snake bites and treatment as well as other sting and bite risks from around the world as they are likely to travel to remote areas.

Unit 14: Other Medical Emergencies

Asthma
Epilepsy
Do not put anything in a seizure victim's mouth.

Environmental Emergencies

Unit 15: Burns

Stress not putting any kind of ointment or home remedy (butter, etc.) on burns.
Heat that causes a sudden burn, e.g., scalding water or a barbecue grill, is still penetrating to deeper layers of skin. Cold application (immersion in cold water or under running water) as soon as is possible can prevent further damage and worsening the degree of the burn injury.

Unit 16: Heat and Cold Issues

Stress ingthe need to be prepared for changing environments whether on land or at sea. Dressing in layers, carrying water and energy snacks are basic precautions that everyone should follow whether on a short walk or an exotic adventure.
Heat and cold injuries will strike the ignorant and unprepared more often. Graduates of this course will be neither.

Unit 17: Water Hazards

Stressing the statistics of drowning and how easily it can be prevented by following the basic precautions presented.
For non diver trainees it isn't necessary to present the information on scuba diving maladies. A precautionary statement regarding the need for reasonable health and fitness is appropriate for those intrigued by the information as well as recommendations for getting certified.

Victim Transport

Unit 18: Moving and Transporting Victims

Stressing the principle of "do no harm." Emphasizing that transport is only necessary to prevent further injury to the victim, to help ensure the safety of the first aid provider, or to more effectively help a group of victims at a nearby location. Unless absolutely necessary, give first aid where the victim is found, and provide comfort until advanced care arrives.
It is important to maintain good posture when performing various drags, lifts and carries.

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Primarily, NAUI's interest in this area of training stems from its traditional requirement that all new member applicants be currently certified in first aid and CPR. For many years this meant that membership growth was dependent to an extent on a third party, i.e., American Red Cross or St. John's Ambulance, etc. That dependence was mitigated by the reciprocity afforded in our agreement with ASHI in 1997. Now ten years later the first aid training market has matured and the NAUI membership has demonstrated its ability to train and certify the general public in first aid. There is also an overarching authority (ILCOR) producing recommendations that address what is legitimate content in first aid courses. This, together with our experience, makes NAUI as legitimate a source for first aid training as any other and in the case of diver specific first aid and aquatic life injuries even more so.

Is the NAUI first aid certification recognized by anyone? NAUI is the authority that recognizes its certifications as legitimate to meet the requirement for new member applicants to the Association. As to other entities, we have made inquiries regarding recognition and will be continuing to announce them as they come in. However, consider that in some U.S. States the law specifies American Red Cross or American Heart Association certification (AHA has never offered certifications in first aid, only CPR) so there will always be some "officials" who are unwilling to accept a certification unless it is something with which they are personally familiar. To some extent recognition is a function of proliferation so that the more certifications which are in circulation the more familiar and "acceptable" they become. Also please refer to the answer above regarding legitimacy of training. NAUI first aid materials/courses were reviewed by medical, physiological and emergency medical experts and contain all the ILCOR recommendations.

Who were the experts who reviewed NAUI First Aid?

Dr. Ronald P. Bangasser, past president of the California Medical Association, board member of the Underwater Hyperbaric Medical Society, and director of the Wound Care Clinic at Redlands Community Hospital.
Dr. Jolie Bookspan, research physiologist, university and military laboratory research in human performance in normal to extreme environments (subaquatic, aviation, thermal, terrestrial, forensic) for acute and extended durations. University professor of anatomy and physiology, environmental physiology, exercise physiology, statistics, orthopedic and pain rehabilitation.
Keith Sliman, Director of Safety at Ford, Bacon and Davis, Inc., Emergency Medical Technician, current board member and past Chairman of the National Association of Underwater Instructors, and current board member of the Safety Council in Baton Rouge.

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