‘It should be compulsory’

IF TED Henderson had his way it would be compulsory for every adult to have basic first aid training.
That’s how high the Narre Warren North resident values CPR after he was required to put his training into practice on a heart attack victim earlier this year.
“It was the longest eight to 10 minutes of my life and it just seemed like an eternity before the paramedics arrived,” he recalled.
Mr Henderson undertakes a first aid course every six months at Lynex Health Care and Training Services and swears by its lifesaving value.
“The training kicked in straight away and I just started performing CPR like I had been taught at the course,” Mr Henderson said.
So good was Mr Henderson’s CPR that paramedics let him continue on the elderly man while they setup their equipment.
“They told me later that the man had suffered a massive heart attack and what we did was exactly what was required,” he said.
Director of Lynex Health Care and Training Services, Delene Lynex, said she regularly receives feedback from former clients who have had to perform their first aid skills in a real life situation.
“A young girl who attended one of our courses had to administer first aid to a heart attack victim only days after she had completed our course,” Ms Lynex said. “She told me she was cool, calm and collected throughout the ordeal and was able to help two nurses when they arrived on the scene.”