LIFE-SAVING skills are just a poem away thanks to a Warwick first-aider.
Bill Mckechnie has penned a series of verse to help people learn and remember how to carry out first aid in an emergency.
So far he has written 37 poems tackling subjects including how to perform CPR, what to do if someone is choking, and how to deal with a person suffering a heart attack, stroke, or shock.
The father of four – who also writes songs – has published the poems in an e-book available on Amazon, and has just released an audio version with him reading the poems, also available on Amazon.
The 56 year-old learnt his first aid skills while driving for Lancashire Ambulance Service in the early noughties, and later became a teacher.
“I became a trainer and was teaching nurses, police, prison staff and members of the public.
“I started writing poems with the aim of making it easier for people to understand first aid, in the hope of encouraging them to enrol on a course
“The poems really struck a chord – with students were saying how much easier they made it to remember.”
And the one time line dance instructor is continuing to add new poems to the potentially life-saving collection, which has won praise in health and education circles.
Visit www.wild-bill.co.uk for further details.
Choking Adult
For an adult who is choking!
Don’t panic! And don’t shout,
Stay calm and reassure them
Encourage coughing out.
If that is not effective?
Still congestion of the neck?
Give back blows between shoulder blades
Between each phase! Re-check.
Next! Heimlich manoeuvre
Was his technique to fame,
But did not like back blows
Associated with his name.
Now called abdominal thrusts
What this is all about!
By forcing up diaphragm
Might force blockage out.
So stand behind casualty
Place hands round waist to front,
Grasp fist pull in and upward
Just enough to hear them grunt.
Always check between each phase
To see if clear and fine?
But if after 3 attempts have failed?
You must call 999.
If you do use abdominal thrusts?
This is important you see,
There’s a slight possibility of rupture
Please insist they attend A&E.
It’s better to be safe than sorry
Abdominal thrusts they were needing,
But if an organ has been ruptured
They could have internal bleeding.
