Schoolgirl sisters to be life savers
and Abigail Purrl Two Perth schoolgirls completed a course which gave them the skills and confidence to save someone’s life.
And 12-year-old Jessica Purll and her 10-year-old sister Abigail have the certificates to prove it.
The pair, both pupils at Inchview Primary School, were encouraged by their dad Simon to take part in the American Heart Association (AHA) programme.
An AHA instructor, he has been working for oil company Shell in Iraq for the past four years.
During that time he has trained hundreds of locals, as well as expats who work in the vast oilfields in that country.
Thanks to his expertise, the oilfield workers have been given vital instruction on how to carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defribillator (AED) techniques, as well as a range of other first aid skills.
Simon said: “Heartsaver first aid is a video-based, instructor-led course that teaches students critical skills to respond to and manage an emergency in the first few minutes until medical help arrives.
“About 90 per cent of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests die.
“CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or triple a person’s chance of survival.
“Sadly, most of the time it doesn’t happen that way. My wife Sandie and I were keen that our daughters got to know what to do if an emergency arises.
“It’s all about giving them the confidence to react quickly to a given situation.”
The two-day course covers heart attacks and strokes, severe choking, low blood sugar levels, external bleeding, broken bones and sprains, allergies and bites and stings, as well as other conditions.
“The good thing about the course is that it is for anyone with limited or no medical training,” added Simon.
“Those taking part demonstrate on infant, child and adult mannequins so they even understand what to do for an unresponsive infant, a child and those who are older.”
Both girls were full of praise for the course.
Abi said: “I really enjoyed practicing CPR on the training mannequins and being able to role play as an injured person during the first aid training. “It was real fun and very easy to learn.” Jessica added: “I feel confident enough to perform CPR and use AED in a real-life situation.
“I didn’t realise how easy it is to operate the AED. It’s not difficult at all.”