Philippine Red Cross: My SFAT/BLS-CPR Experience

I really have a lot of thoughts and say for this training experience.. So, I no longer know how to start this one. :/

Philippine Red Cross La Union Chapter once again conducted another Standard First Aid Training and Basic Life Support- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation last October 14-19, 2013. The Standard First Aid Training aims to equip participants with knowledge, skills and confidence in providing care for a person who has been injured or suddenly become ill. This includes lecture and demonstration on bandaging techniques, emergency transfers and common emergencies. While the Basic Life Support- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Course aim to equip participants with knowledge, skills and confidence to perform management to a person whose breathing and heartbeat suddenly stopped. This includes lecture and demonstration on performing foreign airway obstruction management, rescue breathing and CPR. These two are under the Safety Services, which is one of the major service arms of the Philippine Red Cross.





I decided to finally join the said training since I've been encouraged by my soon-to-be instructors the week before :DD Plus, I'm really looking forward to the whole training and my will-be experience with the new bunch of people that I'll be meeting... I remember how I wasn't able to sleep the night before the first day of the training. I was feeling so tensed, excited, nervous... too much emotions.

I'm part of the In-house group since our training venue is at the PRC Hall. Our instructors are Mark Kevin Rimando, and Terrence Ortiz with Jay Gurion as their senior observer [not sure with the term]. But since some circumstances had happened, Miles Salesale substituted Sir Terrence on Day 3 onward. A lot of things happened, a lot of stuffs were done.. I won't be able to narrate everything, right? But surely, everyone of us learned bunch from our hardworking instructors. We were kinda tired and exhausted from all the skills that we had demonstrated. We sweated a lot because of the heat and all the carries, bandaging and immobilizing techniques, splinting and spine board management, and the CPR.. But the experience and the fun moments were worthwhile. I am truly glad for meeting and being with everyone..Everything is worth remembering.

I am really thankful because our instructors had been kind to me... although sometimes medyo pinagtritripan nila ako.. I remember how Sir Miles had told me, after my skills demo for CPR. "Next, pakitawag si Rosalinda." "Ai sige po Sir." "Rosalinda daw po--" sabi ko pa naman... Narinig ko na lang na tumatawa siya.. "May pax ba naman ba kasi tayong Rosalinda." LOOOOOOOOL. Bully talaga yun :DDD

For Sir MK and Sir Terrence, they were great too. It was their first time but they really had done a great job. I've been praising Sir MK because he's actually an engineer graduate but he was able to deliver and explain the lessons well. Then to Sir Jay, I was truly surprised on how his aura transformed when he started to talk in front. On the last day, we wrote an evaluation for the training, our co-participants to each of our instructors. I tried to write down my feelings, but wish I was able to tell them more. I've got so much to tell... so much to be thankful for..

Even to my 27 co-participants, there were words that I wished to convey to them. For the In-house population, most of them were already acquainted with each other since they joined there by group/school. One group is composed of caregivers from Corazon C. Ortega Skills Training Center for Woman TESDA Compound CSF, LU and the other one is from Union Christian College. There are only some walk-in applicants, like me. It is expected that we are not united at first, but somehow, towards the end of the training, some bonds had been formed. Dakilang kalog din kasi ang karamihan.

   

      

 

On the last day, the another group had joined with us for the Simulation and on the Graduation Ceremony. There were around 32 caregiver participants from  La Union College of Science and Technology of Bauang, La Union. Their instructors were Joseph Acosta and Valerie-Anne Fariñas with Jusel Ros Reyes as their senior. It was the last day, but it's the best ever. Everything we learned from the start must be brought to life in order to survive everything that they had prepared.. Pero hindi lang kami ang nahirapan at napagod. All the instructors were really working so hard in order to make everything work. We all shared the same hardships, pain [body pain LOOOL], exhaustion, and of course laughter, fun, crazy encounters... At the end of the simulation everyone were so dirty and filled with sweat, but were smiling.

Because we remember how we lost our breaths, our back ached, our feet hurt, our clothes got dirtied, how we freaked out, we panicked, we nearly went on tears, we shouted, we laughed, how we tried not to fell asleep during the lecture times, we went crazy to all those [mostly green] jokes... We may able to feel these things again, but it no longer will be with these people we spent with for that 6 days. So those memories are still precious and dazzling..

     

This is my first SFAT/BLS-CPR Training.. As I continue looking back to all the things that I had done, I end up smiling. I know I had done a lot of things that I know I hadn't done before... I spoke in front of the crowds, I had tried to be a leader on some of our mini-groups,  I tried to finalize the invitaion for our graduation ceremony, I tried to go crazy during the simulation.. and more.. Truly, I'm really looking forward to more training to come.. as I go on with the Redcrosser path.. I'm pretty sure that I will be able to experience more, do more, know more, learn more, meet more, live more...


This had been long and kinda random and unorganized and that I'm going too emotional and sentimental.. :DDDD my apologies. Again I'm telling you that this is more of a personal accounts of being a redcrosser.. 

see all photos here 1, 2, [the victims] 3a, 3b, 3c, 4[we], 5[most loved redcrossers]
or at my facebook photo album: fun moments with Philippine Red Cross

P.S. i think there are still some more stories behind the training...sideline stories.. that i wished to share but i might first made a rough draft... ill try to update myself later... kilig at katatawanan moments :DDDD