Did you know that the human heart does more physical work than any other muscle in the body?
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I updated the First Aid Kit article with pictures and more info. Have a look here.
Angina & Heart Attack both belong to the group of Coronary Heart Diseases (CHD), a condition which affects the blood vessels surrounding the heart, supplying the heart with oxygen and nutrition’s. If these blood vessels become partly blocked they lead to a decreased heart function which results in symptoms like pain in the chest, arm, neck or jaw. This is Angina. If the artery is completely blocked off the affected area of the heart muscle can die. This is a heart attack. Coronary Heart Diseases are the leading cause of death in Australia; actually every fifth death is caused by CHD. Risk factors include smoking, lack of exercise, high body weight, blood pressure & cholesterol levels as well as old age and diabetes. CHD can be managed and treated. 
Over the last 2 years a lot of things have changed in First Aid. Not only was the name of the most common first aid certificate changed from 'Senior First Aid, to 'Apply First Aid', but also a lot of techniques have been reviewed and simplified. During that process the certificate gained national accreditation and the course was shortened to one day.
Besides many small modifications the most significant changes applied to CPR, the treatment of shock, asthma, anaphylaxis and the use of a defibrillator (AED).All CPR is done now with 30 compressions followed by 2 rescue breaths. Compressions are performed by pushing straight down at the centre of the chest approximately 1/3 of the chest depth at a rate of 100/min. If the first aider feels uncomfortable giving rescue breaths, it is acceptable to only perform compressions and not to give any rescue breaths at all. A person in shock is now to be placed in a position of comfort, ideally laying down, as opposed to laying on the ground with legs raised, as was previously taught. 'Emergency Management of Asthma in the Workplace', 'First Aid Management of Anaphylaxis' and 'Automated External Defibrillation' are now stand alone courses which cover these topics far more comprehensively and to the new standards. Only 25%of Australians are trained in First Aid and only 8% have up to date CPR skills. These statistics are extremely poor for a developed country like Australia. One way to amend this would be to follow the example of some European countries where it is mandatory to hold a current first aid certificate in order to renew a drivers licence. In the event that we ourselves might require first aid one day, we would hope that a qualified first aider will stop and assist us, and it would be ideal if we too were able to offer the same help. Apply First Aid Northern Rivers (Ph: 0421761095) runs regular courses in the Byron Shire and the Northern Rivers area. Hair is the fastest growing tissue in the human body.This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
After the brain, the eyes are the second most complex organ in the human body. Weighing 28 grams and being made up of about 2 million parts (including 120 million rods for night vision and 8 million colour sensitive cones for day vision), the eye can distinguish 500 shades of grey and process about 36000 bits of information per hour. It will focus on 50 objects per second and contribute towards 85% of your total knowledge. To keep the eye clean and moist, the eye blinks about 12 times a minute, which accumulates to 10 000 times a day. Although the surrounding muscles and the eyelid need rest, the eye itself never does. Protective reflexes close the eye automatically when you sneeze or when something is about to hit it.
Snakes are some of Australia’s most beautiful, but also most feared animals. Everyone knows a story about someone being bitten by a lightning fast snake, and dying soon after. Fortunately most of these stories are urban myths. Although a snake’s reflexes are better than a human’s , no snake strikes faster than a human punches, or travels faster than 10kph. It is extremely rare that somebody dies of a snake bite in under 5 hrs.
The true number of snakebites in Australia is unknown, but is estimated to be several thousand a year. Only 300 of them require treatment with antivenom, and only 2-4 cases a year result in death. To put that in perspective, over 20 people die each year horse riding in Australia, and many thousands get hurt or die in accidents. Over the last 20 years, about 60% of deaths where caused by the Brown snake, 30% by the Tiger snake, and the Death Adder, Rough Scaled snake and the Taipan where responsible for most of the rest. Not all snakebites result in envenomation; actually less than half do. Most of the time the snake chooses to give a warning without injecting venom. Eastern brown snakes have an envenomation rate of 20%-40%, Mulga snake, Inland Taipan and the common Death Adder of 40%-60%, and the Taipan 80%. In very most cases of somebody getting bitten by a snake, the victim was either trying to handle or kill the snake, or was drunk. Snakes bite to defend themselves. Don’t give them a reason to feel threatened, leave them an escape route, and they will happily slither away. Don’t fear a snake, but respect it for what it is and leave it alone. |
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