Keeping hearts beating in Hedland
Royal Life Saving WA’s Pilbara Development Officer Jacqui Forbes recently taught vital first aid and CPR skills to parents and carers at the Well Women’s Centre in Port Hedland. 15 parents attended the Heart Beat Club training, supported by the Town of Port Hedland. It was the second session held at the centre this year.
The Well Women’s Centre is a free service, supported by BHP, that offers support for Port Hedland women in all aspects of their lives, and is often referred to as a ‘Home Away from Home.’ It’s been caring for the health and well-being of families in Hedland for the past 28 years.
The Royal Life Saving Heart Beat Club is a child safety education program designed to provide parents, grandparents, and carers of children with the skills to apply first aid and resuscitation to babies and toddlers in and around the home or when around water. The aim is to minimise risk and ensure parents and carers know what to do in the case of an incident.
The parents taking part in the Port Hedland session were taught how to apply resuscitation techniques, and how to deal with other first aid issues such as choking, burns and scalds, and control of bleeding.
Jacqui says the participants really made the most of the session. "It's a privilege to spend time with these busy mums and dads. They are so keen to learn what to do in the event of an emergency and always have plenty of "what if" questions for me. The groups have been really interested in home pool and water safety and discussion on swimming lessons. This information is really crucial as a high proportion of home-owners and rental properties in Port Hedland have swimming pools and a lot of people own boats."
Training such as this is part of our Swim and Survive Access and Equity program, which is supported by Principal Community Partner BHP, and aims to ensure at-risk groups and people in regional and remote areas of WA have access to vital swimming and lifesaving skills.
We look forward to holding more of these sessions for Pilbara parents as we build partnerships with local community organisations across the region. For more information on the Heart Beat Club and how your organisation can get involved please click the link below.
