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Home drownings are common place in Australia. Why would your children not know CPR if they owned a pool? Because parents don't believe it's necessary...until it's needed. Signage in view of te pool and first aid lessons along wit CPR and automatic defibrillator (AED) training can give any victim thebest fighing chance of survival.
Emrgency service professionals work alongside volunteers and community responders to deal with mass casualty disasters. Learn first aid and train regularly to maintain a high degree of knowledge and competence. First responders, emergency response teams, volunteer fire fighters, airline staff, marine vessels, airport fire, water treatment plant, power station, all banding together to achieve a common goal.
Kids CPR classes can show children as young as 10 years of age how to effectively compress the chest of an adult to allow circulation to feed the brain and other vital organs. Children can save lives too. Parents allow your children to learn first aid and CPR, for all of your sakes. Children you are responsible for younger siblings or older family members should know how to deal wit medical emergencies - Help 4 Life will teach them all of this.

ABOUT H4L 

Our history and ideology

A Bit About Me...

I'm Russell Brodie, the founder and Head Trainer at Help 4 Life first aid & I am passionate about helping people realise their abilities.

I joined the Queensland Ambulance with a driving desire to help people in some sort of exciting way, so how better than as an Ambulance Officer? Over 20 years later, and here I am, still saving lives but now bringing my experiences to those ready to learn via Help 4 Life. 

It all started as a child with a healthy fascination in seeing other people's grotesque traumatic injuries and more often than not, I was probably part of the cause of the accident ie dodgy BMX jumps, leaps from height, stupid dares, etc. So there may have been an element of survival in my burgeoning reassurance skills to avert blame or calm the situation before I got in big trouble...but it's fair to say I was interested in first aid from a young age. 

An early encounter with CPR then later a handful of other incidents and I was feeling an interest in emergency type work. Sports, girls and the other interests that tend to distract young men came to the fore, but a short career in hospitality could not distract me from those desires so a delayed attempt at being a fireman pushed me into the direction of medical response as an ambulance officer with the Queensland Ambulance Service.  

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I continue to work as a Paramedic with the QAS and now want to dedicate myself to sharing the skills and info I've acquired as a Paramedic to interested corporate and community groups, schools and care centres, people of all ages. Whether it be facilitating future paramedic education, running a bowls club through CPR scenarios and their newly purchased defibrillator, or just chatting to a bunch of wide-eyed teens at school, I enjoy empowering others to make a positive impact in an emergency, and potentially make a bad situation better.

 

As an active father of three over-active kids, I've shown them a few basic first aid principles over the years and was surprised to find they had retained a fair bit of it. It was at about this time I was witnessing the emerging evil and stupidity that I'd first started to see in my teen years, then more in my job and on the nightly news... and it concerned me greatly. Young men were falling victim to cruel, apathetic peers with a goal of inflicting injury on others for their own entertainment and no sense of repercussion. It got me worrying about my kid's futures. So I started to think about possible ways to bring some change to the mindsets of today's young people. By bringing my life and work experiences to others, Help 4 Life hopes to help them improve their future and those they share the planet with. So I dare to dream...

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It is possible that specific training in focused areas can:

1) Improve out-of-hospital cardiac arrest statistics

2) Reduce youth trauma such as 'One Punch' attacks and in turn,

3) Decrease Emergency Department presentations...

 

But wait - there's more! 

All of these amazing benefits come with an understanding and ownership of personal safety and moral responsibility that lay better foundations for future generations. 

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This is my dream. 

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First aid training has many positives: it answers questions you've wondered about; it instills confidence to act when the moment calls; your sense of worth is increased with your new vital skills; people trust you more; your value to those around you also increases; anywhere you are becomes a safer place just due to your presence; others are inspired to acquire such skills to also share in the positives I have mentioned; the gaps of social apathy begin to get close up with the growing interest in other's well being and safety; and finally the world becomes a place that is seeking one common goal, to be better for each other. The first aid trained aren't kown to king hit or hurt people willingly as they are cognisant of the damage it causes.
Effective CPR and First Aid training
can save lives
First aid training can be fun, exciting, challenging and inspiring. Learn from experienced paramedics and share the stories and experiences of a lifetime of ambulance cases and traumatic or medical situations. Be valuable to your wrkplaces, clubs, teams and families. Heck, just do it for yourself if not for the greater good. First aiders are confident and outgoing. CPR saves lives and hands only CPR has been proven to be just effective if not, more effective in the pre-hospital setting when carried out by first aiders or the untrained.
Children first aid trainig builds resilience, confidence and responsibility. Wouldn't you rather your child leave the house or be in charge of younger siblings, knowing they have had the necessary training to know what to do? Risk assessment and hazard identification and control, CPR, care for the unconscious or head injured, effective airway clearance and posuring techniques, mouth to mouth, haemorrhage control, airway clearance, burns management, fracture splinting, slings and bandaging, etc. Start them today!
Life saving procedures carried out with confidence and knowledge can mean the difference between life and death. These kids could have saved their little sister's life. 30:2 or hands only CPR, the baby is better off in their hands than most adults due to panic and emotion. Allow children access to the education and watch them grow and assist in times of need. Trust the young with our lives and show them. They are our future.

Help 4 Life's Beginnings

This concept was born out of the complaints and perception by many I've spoken to believe many people who had first aid training were still unable to put their skills into practice when called upon. Whether this was due to inexperienced trainers, poor delivery methods, or just a lack of interest from all involved I'm unsure, but these negative views of first aid training made me focus on better options for providing CPR and first aid training within homes, schools, community and corporate environments, etc. Not to just rush through workbooks so we can get out the door early, you with certificate in trembling hand... Rather than that, a valuable shared experience where every participant walks away feeling more confident in their role and the prospect of being exposed to an emergency. 

As a front line emergency service worker, I witness a variety of issues and shortcomings that could be improved with a culture shift and an investment by the community/powers to push for improvements in this sort of learning.

Now more than 20 years after first putting on the uniform, I can no longer resist the need to share my roles between the pre-hospital care setting and community education, in a bid to make people more aware of the differences they can make to the health of others and themselves... To promote respect towards your fellow citizen. To learn to maintain a caring eye out in times of need, and to advocate for somebody's well-being.

 

It's good to dream.

I've seen a thousand faces and the looks of despair... 

"HELP ME, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!"

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DON'T LET THAT BE YOU OR YOURS

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FIRST AID SEEMS A WASTE OF TIME...

UNTIL YOU NEED IT

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