St John Ambulance is reminding Liverpool Chamber members to take extra care this winter when attending or organising firework and bonfire displays and are issuing first aid advice to enable people to be the difference between life and death should an accident happen. 

The most common injuries sustained on Guy Fawkes Night are burns, e.g. from picking up a hot sparkler, and injuries to the eye, caused when people look up at the fireworks. Here are St John Ambulance’s top tips on how to care for someone who may have a bad burn or sore eyes.

Burns

• Holding the affected area under cold water for at least ten minutes will cool the burn down and help to prevent scarring
• Burns covering an area larger than the palm of the casualty’s hand will require professional medical attention and so the casualty will need to see a doctor or go to hospital
• Major burns should be treated with water and in most cases an ambulance will need to be called to get urgent medical help on the way
• Burns must never be treated with lotions, ointments or creams and adhesive dressings must not be applied to the affected area
• To avoid infection the wound can be covered with any non-fluffy material such as cloth, a clean plastic bag or kitchen film.

Eye injuries

• Stand beside or just behind the injured person. Gently separate their eyelids with your forefinger and thumb and ask them to look right, left, up and down while you examine the eye
• If you can see a foreign object, wash it out by pouring clear water from a glass or jug or using sterile eye wash. Place a towel around their shoulders and pour from the inner corner of the eye
• If unsuccessful then try lifting the object off with the damp corner of a clean tissue
• If you still cannot remove the object, seek medical help.

Most large organised events will have first aiders on site many of whom will be St John Ambulance volunteers, ready to respond if needed.

St John Ambulance’s Stephanie Littler says ‘Bonfire Night can be so much fun for people of all ages but can so easily be spoiled by injuries. It’s useful for everyone to know some basic first aid so if an accident does happen you will be prepared, or visit the first aiders on duty if you’re at a public event. It’s important to get prompt treatment as first aid can be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.’

First aid advice can be downloaded by Chamber members via St John Ambulance’s iPhone application available from iTunes. For details of first aid courses in your area visit sja.org.uk or call 0844 770 4800. Chamber members are entitled to a 10% discount off all St John Ambulance scheduled courses in the North West.

New Liverpool Chamber member the Bone & Joint Centre is leading the way in orthopaedic healthcare.

From joint replacements, upper limb surgery (shoulder, elbow and hand) and lower limb surgery (hip, knee, foot and ankle), through to a wide range of diagnostic imaging and physiotherapy, this one-stop-shop facility provides the highest standard of treatment to Private and NHS patients, all under one roof.

With a client list that includes premiership footballers the Bone & Joint Centre is now at the forefront of orthopaedic treatment across the UK by offering a tailor-made service specific to the needs of each patient. This holistic approach allows time to understand the patient’s condition, home-living situation and work environment, so that the best possible course of action can be administered.

Consultants at the Bone and Joint Centre are all are highly skilled practitioners at the forefront of their profession, each with an exemplary reputation for delivering clinical excellence in their area of specialism. The delivery of clinical quality across this broad spectrum is central to the success of the Bone & Joint Centre and according to consultant shoulder surgeon Peter Brownson, “the ability to provide a holistic patient support package is much more achievable when you have the support of an expert team of colleagues.”

Working closely to support the consultant surgeons is a team of physiotherapists who devise and implement rehabilitation programs and musculoskeletal treatments. With this level of expertise on offer founding partner and consultant hip and knee surgeon John Davidson concludes, “it is tremendously rewarding to see patients progress through our combined expertise and since we founded the Bone & Joint Centre we have gone on to become the largest surgeon-led orthopaedic healthcare provider in the North West.”

Bone and Joint Centre (located at Spire Liverpool Hospital)
57 Greenbank Road, Liverpool, L18 1HQ
t: 0151 522 1860
e: info@boneandjointcentre.com
w: www.boneandjointcentre.com

Here’s a great offer to help keep you fit and active during the coming winter months:

Winter Golf Giveaway

Get five months unlimited play for £1 from October to February at Allerton and Liverpool North golf courses.

Call the 24hr line 0151 233 5433 to take advantage of this offer.

Offer closes 30 October 2011

 Sign up now - the sooner you sign-up the longer you can play!

Allerton Golf Course
Allerton Road  L18 3JT

Liverpool North Golf Course
Ingoe lane  L32 4SS

www.liverpool.gov.uk/golf

When the Health and Safety Executive updated their guidance to workplace first aid training in 2009, St John Ambulance commissioned a report into tackling skills fade in basic life support.

It raised the following issues:

• First aid competence is built up through a continuing process of learning, with regular refresher training
• First aiders retain skills better after facilitated, relevant practical training, as opposed to lecture-style sessions
• Recent simplification of procedures such as CPR has not necessarily led to improved skill retention over time

Basic life support (BLS) is taught through HSE accredited first aid courses and consists of up to 50 different learned skills. Even the recent simplification of the resuscitation guidelines by the Resuscitation Council (UK) in April this year has not necessarily led to improved skill retention.

BLS is not difficult to learn but requires regular practice to keep skills updated and refreshed.

The key recommendations of the report are still extremely valid and are as follows:

• First aiders retain skills better after facilitated, relevant practical training, as opposed to lecture-style sessions
• Deterioration in first aid skills has been recognised as a concern for many years. The general consensus among experts is that refresher training should occur every 6 to 12 months 
• The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation issued guidelines for the training of lay people in Basic life support, recommending that initial training must always include specific plans for refresher training
• First aid training should not be seen as a one-off event, but a regular engagement with the subject through a variety of means, including refresher training, advancing skills on other courses and access to online/digital training material. Only this way can skills fade be reduced.

St John Ambulance still offers the first Annual Refresher training FREE to all students who pass its three-day First Aid at Work course and offers 50% off the first Annual Refresher for those who pass its one-day Emergency First Aid at Work course.

Chamber of Commerce members are entitled to a 10% discount off St John Ambulance’s commercial training courses in the North West. Call 0844 770 4800 or visit www.sja.org.uk/training and quote NW8 to get the discount.

Innov8 director Jeremy Meredith and MD Alan Robson

Mersey construction firms urged to ‘get tough’ as accident figures increase

A leading Merseyside health and safety construction firm says new accident figures released by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) are a sobering reminder of the critical need to regularly review on site safety procedures.

Liverpool Chamber of Commerce member Birkenhead based Innov8 Safety Solutions specialises in construction design management and site safety. Its managing director Alan Robson said the new figures show that the number of employees fatally injured at work increased in the last year – from 147 to 171. Among these fatalities were 50 construction workers. 23 of these were in the North West compared with 17 last year.

“We want to urge construction firms to take a belt and braces approach to health and safety and ensure it is kept under regular review,” he said. “There is enormous pressure within the industry on costs which means firms are having to deliver construction projects quickly. With bosses also preoccupied with winning new business and battling the recession it is easy to take the eye off health and safety.  This can be avoided if firms ensure they allocate resources at planning and design stage and ensure consistent site management. This is not about going over the top, it is about common sense. By getting it right site safety should help projects proceed quickly, efficiently as well as safely.”

Mr Robson said health and safety does not have to be costly or complex to implement.

“If firms do not have a health and safety officer in house they can seek advice and support from a variety of health and safety specialists,” he said “Key areas to monitor closely include people working at height, with heavy objects and machinery work. It is worth stating again how devastating a serious accident can be to a company, as well as the anguish for the people involved there is huge disruption and potentially massive financial penalties. So it really does pay in every way to take the most rigorous approach possible to health and safety.”

For more information on Innov8 Safety Solution’s services and products call 0845 468 1974 or visit www.innov8safetysolutions.com

Provisional figures released by the HSE recently show a worrying increase in the number of fatal accidents in the North West. In 2010/11 there were 23* fatal accidents in the region, a 35% rise on the 2009/10 figures. The region also has the highest average of fatal accidents based on figures for the past five years.

Alex Swift, Regional Director at St John Ambulance in the North West said; ‘It is worrying to see that the number of workplace deaths has risen in the region. This should be a stark reminder to all employers not to let health and safety slip down their list of priorities. The planned reduction in HSE inspection should not be interpreted as a reason to lose focus on workplace safety. It’s vital that all employers make the necessary efforts to ensure their health and safety provision is up-to-scratch, covering risk management and prevention, as well as having the skills and equipment in place to respond when an accident does occur. If not they face severe consequences.

‘First aid training for example is far too often seen as a regulatory tick box by employers, rather than a necessary life skill, but it does save lives. We know that up to 150,000 people die in situations where first aid could have given them the chance to live. With some 59% of people wanting first aid training in the workplace, businesses have the perfect opportunity to help reduce this figure before the progress made in previous years is lost and more unnecessary workplace deaths occur.’

St John Ambulance has 24 training venues across the North West and can also deliver a range of courses in first aid and health and safety in the workplace.

Chamber of Commerce members are entitled to a 10% discount off all St John Ambulance commercial courses in the North West. Call 0844 770 4800 or visit www.sja.org.uk/training

* Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatalinjuries.htm

21 & 22 September 2011, Manchester Central Convention Complex

This event will allow participants to explore the issues and opportunities facing service users through a mixture of discussion and debate, informative presenters, the best of treatment and specialist support, training ‘tasters’, product and intervention demonstrations.

During the conference all drugs including alcohol and tobacco will be considered.

For more information visit the event website here

General Information: Contact Sam Harrison – sam.harrison@h2-events.co.uk
Sponsorship and Exhibition Queries – Andy Stonard – andy@espritdebois.org or partnership@h2-events.co.uk

£65.00 +VAT
for a one day delegate pass

£95.00 +VAT
for a two day delegate pass

If your workplace is leading the way in first aid, then you could be in the running for a St John Ambulance First Aid Award.

These new Workplace Awards recognise organisations in the public and private sector that have gone above and beyond first aid legal requirements to provide an outstanding workplace for employees.

If your business or public sector organisation is shortlisted, you’ll be synonymous with first aid excellence and best practice. It will highlight your leadership in creating a safe and caring environment for staff, customers and visitors, and help to attract new recruits, investment and business. What’s more, you’ll have the opportunity to celebrate the outstanding contribution that your employees have made to a safer workplace, and encourage others to be the difference.

Entries will be judged by a panel of experts including Roger Bibbings MBE, Occupational Safety Adviser at Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and Louise Aston, Director of Business Action for Health at Business in the Community (BITC)

Winners will be announced at an inspirational ceremony at the Lancaster London hotel on Wednesday 30 November, hosted by BBC news presenter and journalist Sophie Raworth.

It’s free to enter so visit www.sja.org.uk/firstaidawards

A Summer Sizzler from Lifestyles

Six weeks membership for the price of 4 during the summer hols!

Now the summer holidays have arrived why not take advantage of our fantastic six weeks membership for the price of four?

Indulge in a leisurely swim, book yourself on one of our range of classes or burn off some of that excess stress in one of our ftness suites.

They have a programme of activities planned for children over the summer holidays too, so why not let us help to entertain the kids while you take advantage of this great offer.

Memberships available with no obligation to extend after six weeks!

Buy online at: www.liverpool.gov.uk/lifestylesoffers or call in to your nearest centre, or contact them on 0151 233 5433 for more info.

T&C’s.  Offer includes free induction + TGS key worth £15, when signing up for Total or Plus membership.  Six weeks membership to commence between 25 July – 31 August 2011

In 2008/2009 over 4000 major injuries were caused by falls from height at work*. More than a million falls occur in the home each year**.

When someone has a fall it can significantly impact on their physical health as well as their confidence and independence. Unfortunately, not only does a fall detrimentally affect the individual but also the lives of their family members and any work colleagues too. Family members may need to take time off work to look after the injured one and take them for the necessary hospital visits. Work colleagues may have to work harder to complete the injured person’s work.

The Falls Awareness Week is designed to educate (older) people on how to avoid falls. 

However if someone does have a fall it is important they receive prompt and effective first aid to minimise the impact of any injuries. St John Ambulance is committed to making sure no one dies through a lack of first aid training. The nation’s leading first aid charity wants to make information and training accessible to all.

A common injury after having a fall is a fracture. Bleeding may also occur. 

First aid advice when someone has a fracture:

• Support the injured limb
• Immobilise the affected part.
• Dial 999 or 112 for an ambulance
• Treat for shock (if appropriate)
• If the casualty becomes unconscious, follow the Resuscitation Sequence – DRABC (danger, response, airway, breathing, circulation) and ensure the emergency services are fully informed of this.

For details of how to treat bleeding please visit: www.sja.org.uk/firstaidadvice or attend one of St John Ambulance’s local first aid courses. Call 0844 770 4800 to make a booking.

Chamber of Commerce members are entitled to a 10% discount off all St John Ambulance business courses in the North West.

To incentivise first aid training during the Summer months, the organisation is offering Liverpool Chamber members an exclusive 20% off all new bookings onto its business first aid courses which run during July and August 2011 in the North West.

Call 0844 770 4800 to book

*Statistics taken from http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/statistics.htm