Community Responders - Service Highlight!

By Daniel Anderson, 365 Days of Service, Kailua Chapter

I was reminded of my early boy scout training at the end on a long
hike recently.

We were ending a long 6.5 mile killer hike, when a fellow hiker lost
her footing on a steep section of loose rock. Both her scream and
sharp, brittle, metallic snapping noise reached me at the same time.
My worst fears of wilderness hiking were rushing at me in that moment.
Would she be alright, was she bleeding, were "we" in trouble? Our
training took over, following the rules during traumatic event we did
no further harm. We made sure our fellow hiker was in safe position,
not going to fall down the side of the hill. We evaluated her physical
condition and performed the necessary first aid. No bleeding, just
swelling of ankle and sharp continuing pain. We were worried that a
bone was broken, so we tried to splinted lower leg with wraps to
provide support. Because of the pain in her leg, we removed splint
which provide comfort over support. Knowing we could not let her walk
on leg, and still not at the end of hike, we carried and dragged her
to trail ending for transfer to city EMT service.

I have had first aid training over the years. First as a Boy Scout,
and than as a requirement for employment. Situations like our hike and
the community responders with emergency in Japan, reminds me that this
training is important and does good.

I was also reminded that I need to renew my first aid certification,
because I need to continue to improve and test my skills to be
effective in real life conditions. I am going to an American Red Cross
first aid class this weekend to make sure I am ready next time.