At the time, I had to quit mid class because doing the full blown CPR with the breathing would have made me the victim rather than resuciAnnie. (I got about two minutes in and then MY breathing started getting 'tight'.)

I will teach to the old standard on Tuesday, and we to the new standard starting May 1st. (I teach for the Red Cross, the standard (ECC 2010) is used by essentially everyone. The Red Cross does have a few differences in protocol vs. the American Heart Association, nothing major).

ECC 2010 Adult Basic Life Support from the American Heart Association

CPR in movies and on TV pretty much has to be bad unless you've got nothing else to spend the special-effects budget on -- it's not safe to do the real thing to people who aren't mostly dead.

This incident happened a couple miles from my Mom's house (developed in the late 80s/early90s when pools were practically standard); when we first moved to Mesa in 1984, there was at least two fatal drownings a month in summer. That's improved with 20+ years of awareness and better training, but 6 foot steel bar fences, gates and other forms of access control are the best preventative.

So approximately two drownings per week, but most take place during the summer months when pools are in use. Which makes watching local news on TV pretty depressing.

You can almost fill out a prepared script for those reports, just changing the age and sex of the child (most drownings are in the 1-4 years-old range), the location, whether they were discovered by family, babysitters, or neighbors, and how many minutes estimate they were underwater.

Swimming lessons help. Not just the dinky stuff so the kid can swim across a pool, but the basic rescue training. The drill for throwing a flotation device means that a very little kid has a reasonable chance to save someone much larger.

And it also helps keep the kid safe. Good swim training will help drill in the buddy system. And it will cut down on the odds that a kid tries to climb the fence or do something else stupid to get around the access controls.

I do prefer the MedicAid courses to the Red Cross classes. The paramedics tend to be a bit more hands-on as opposed to the kids who've not seen as much which is what the local Red Cross tends to hire. Now if I were really into it, I'd probably try to find out what the Ski Patrol teaches and learn that (don't ski fast enough to qualify for Patrol, getting up there in years so I probably can't handle a toboggan, not that I'd be that good at a toboggan at 115 lbs).

During the wound care portion, I found myself getting a bit light-headed at some of the pictures. Which is odd, as blood in real life has yet to faze me.

Also need to learn it for kids and infants, which is a separate class.

Joyce Reynolds-Ward @8:
The National Ski Patrol main medical course is called Outdoor Emergency Care, and has just been revised (but I don't have my teacher material yet). They are their own certification agency. There are non-skiing roles at most Patrols, ask around. Classes are frequently taught in the spring or summer. They also require American Heart Association or Red Cross CPR for the Healthcare Provider.

This is part of why I never wanted to be a medic. I am pretty good one, as needed, but the training is mentally exhausting, and physically taxing.

*I thought I wanted to be a vet, which lasted until about mid-way through my bachelor's, which is why I have a BS in BS.

I did manage not to faint -- but I'm sure the doctor saw me turn green. I snagged a stool and sat down while he finished the procedure. Jan said I even made a joke -- but I cannot remember what I said...

I deliberately did not want a pool because of that nightmare. It's just not worth it. And the kids are getting swimming lessons once they're out of diapers.

A 2009 Arizone DHS report for all of Maricopa County(PDF) gives rates of "life threatening pool incidents" per 100,000 children aged 0-4 (figure 3, p11). It shows a dramatic decrease in 1990 from 60 to 40 per 100,000, then a slow downwards trend to a current (up to 2009) level of 10-15 per 100,000.

It really is improving, just not fast enough.

I conclude that as long as I'm performing some kind of first aid task, I'm likely to be fine. My analytical mind takes over and lets me set aside "Oh God, that looks bad, that must really hurt, what if that were me?"

Other knds of bodily fluids don't squick me as long as I have gloves (and other appropriate PPE). Unless they smell so bad as to trigger my gag reflex. Then I breathe through my mouth.

For the moment, Jump Kits is most appropriate.

See also, Real Emergency Preparedness and Tips For an Apocalypse.

A non-survivable situation is just that. Distance = safety. What you can grab in fifteen seconds is what you've got.

A friend reports that she lives 1,000 feet from one of the F4/F5 touch-downs. And what she'd do differently would be have a jump kit and take it with her to the shelter, because there's no guarantee that anything will be left when you go back home. Having the supplies to operate for two or three days would be a Good Thing.

She's quite methodical; I believe that she's in the process of building the kit, if it isn't already built.

My kits are: Small, light, cheap, and strapped to your body. When you go hide in the closet, the kit comes with you.

A good weather radio is a darned good idea. I really like the Midland WR300 Weather Radio. You want something with S.A.M.E. technology.

A plan formed in your mind is a must.