Movers & Shakers is an award-winning health and wellbeing initiative that supports older people to stay fitter longer. Members attend weekly sessions that encourage a healthier lifestyle. A typical session consists of an hour of physical activity, an hour of craft activity, a health/social care presentation facilitated by a volunteer or professional and a healthy lunch in a communal setting.
At a recent Movers & Shakers session in Gerrards Cross, Faisal Mahmood from FM First Aid Training delivered a voluntary talk on first aid, demonstrations included! The invitation was extended to Faisal after a chance meeting between Faisal and one of the organisers of Movers & Shakers on a community stall in the High Wycombe town centre.
Faisal was happy to accept. Several weeks later, he met with the group to deliver an informative talk covering various topics including:
- How to assess an incident
- CPR
- How to place a casualty in the Recovery Position
- How to recognise common illnesses (such as a stroke or heart attack)
- The purpose of the emergency 112 number
- The life-saving benefit of defibrillators in public places
Faisal is particularly keen to emphasise the importance of defibrillators. According to research, if a defibrillator is used within the first 3-5 minutes for cardiac arrest casualties, their chance of recovering increases from 6% to 74%.
The Movers and Shakers group in Gerrards Cross
The feedback from the session was positive. Even though many of the seniors felt limited in what they could do in an emergency first aid situation, they found the session particularly insightful and they were impressed at how first aid best practices have improved over recent decades.
Faisal was happy with how the session went.
“When I was first invited to give the talk I was very happy to help so I said yes straight away. I quickly realised that I would need to adapt my normal approach because I was going to be talking to a group of older ladies and gents and, to be honest, this was new to me as I normally taught members of the community that had not reached retirement age. I’m really happy with how it went, though. It felt great being able to share some practical first aid knowledge with the lovely people I met.”
Despite his hectic schedule, Faisal is available for occasional speaking opportunities and is keen to help as many people as possible through his first aid training work in the community.
You can get in touch via email on info@fmfirstaidtraining.co.uk
