UPDATE:
An Instructor friend of mine has just told me she has a course running on 27/05/2006 if anyone is interested in the course your welcome to come - she has 6 places available on it left.
As the venue is booked she will accept reasonable offers for attendance (normal price is about £80 ish per person, but i think she will accept £45-£55 as the people that were booked on as a group have re scheduled)
Venue in Crawley, West Sussex very close to the Train station (5 minute walk away)
Course includes all materials, certification card and training in First Aid, Defib (AED), medical management and Oxygen provision.
Please email me your details and I will pass them on
DC david@alphadetectives.co.uk
Some years ago when I worked in the print, I went on one of those heart/lung resuscitation courses down in Brighton. I was amazed to learn that even though someones heart has stopped beating, it is possible to keep the brain supplied with oxygen for quite a time - possibly until a defrib unit turns up. There are people alive today whose heart stopped beating for quite a while but, because someone was around who knew what to do, they are in good health without any brain damage caused by oxygen starvation.
The daft thing was that the guys who went with me to the course all had a bit of humour.
Whenever I went to inflate the dummy's "lungs", they kept making kissing noises behind me and I couldn't do it for laughing. However, although it was a long time ago, I still remember the basics of what to do in certain situations. I've never needed to use it but the point is that I just about know enough to supply an apparently dead persons brain with oxygen until an ambulance arrives.
We've all heard of this term "the kiss of life" - but how many people actually know the details of how to do it? It's simple and well worth knowing.