Last night was the first meeting I attended at a St Johns Ambulance local unit. I would like to take up some volunteer work that requires contact with interesting people, situations and environments. Having never really done much volunteer work besides Rock Solid I wasn’t sure what to expect. Lasting just over an hour we had a talk on anaphylaxis, how to identify the symptoms of anaphylactic shock and how to administer an epinephrine pen auto-injector. Really fascinating material.
I need to continue going for another 5-6 weeks to gauge if it is a unit I wish to join and then this is followed up by an interview with me, CRB (Criminal Reference Bureau) check, referrals from people who have known me and then first aid training before you are allowed anywhere near a shift. Very interesting night and I am keen to go again.
Good on you for learning about anaphylaxis. Once you’ve been exposed to the basics it fairly simple. Still it’s not easy when faced with someone going into anaphylactic shock.
We have children that suffer from anaphylaxis so know first hand how important ambulance officers are in this case.
Aaron