The Importance of Baby First Aid – Rescueblue

I recently interviewed Jess Peters, a Mum and Paramedic from Rescue Blue. Jess shared with me the details about how she copes with life on the front-line as paramedic plus the importance of Baby and Kids First-Aid. Watch my interview below with Jess and also read her important blog post. Then make sure you make time during your pregnancy or mama life to book in for a paediatric first aid program with Rescueblue use CODE BODYFAB1 to get $5 off the next course

Life as a mum and paramedic ?

By Jess Peters

I remember vividly how excited I was shopping through all the things I was going to need now that I was expecting a baby.  I spent hours scrolling through Instagram and Pinterest looking at all the baby “must-haves” from the latest and greatest breast pumps, to feeding aids, sleeping aids, teething aids, high chairs, dummies, rockers, play mobiles, carriers and prams… oh man did I obsess about prams!  Prams become my total focal point during the last 3 months of my pregnancy. I became so focused on all the stuff that I thought I was going to need that you can imagine my shock and horror that once my son’s were born I quickly realised that all these wiz bang fancy contraptions I had purchased had done little to prepare me for the challenges of being a new Mother!

What you actually NEED as a new mother ?

It’s so easy to get distracted with all the latest and greatest things that you THINK you need, and then easily overlook the simple things that you actually need.  This last sentence seems to have summed up my career as a mother to date. I remember a weekend trip to Cairns that we took for a wedding.  Myself, my partner and our two boys made the flight for a mere 48 hours away.  By the amount of luggage we had with us you would have thought we were on our way for a year long expedition into the wilderness.  Two prams; 3 suitcases; 2 car seats; portacot; Bumbo; pump; extra bottles; extra pacifiers; baby carriers x 3; swimming floaties; and about one billion sleeping toys that my then 3 year old insisted we brought with us. 

We were staying in a semi remote rainforest hideaway so I wanted to make sure I was prepared for anything as I knew it would be hard to get back to the shops.

The most important baby item !

And oh how underprepared I was!  Even though I packed nearly everything except the kitchen sink… I had forgotten the one thing that I really ended up needing…..The baby first aid kit!

It wasn’t long into our tropical getaway before I would need all important first aid kit, but with all the other ridiculous things I had brought with me I had completely overlooked the need for one. 

My 3 year old son was quite the adventurer, and within 3 minutes of being in the treehouse we were staying in, he had taken a rather large tumble down the slate staircase and cracked open his head.  As I watched him running towards me crying (and bleeding) I thought to myself… not to worry …  I’m a paramedic… now is my time to shine!  But alas, us paramedics aren’t very helpful without our tool box and it was then that that I realised I left my tool box at home. I had always made a point to teach people why paediatric first aid kits were so important and here I was in the middle of the tropical north with not a paediatric bandage, gauze pad or ice pack in site.  Once again I had a million things that I didn’t need and the one thing I did need was missing. I knew exactly where it was too…. tucked away neatly in the bathroom vanity. My Partner scrambled around the tree-house we were staying in and managed to rustle up some band-aids but I didn’t hold much hope for how long they would actually remain on my sons head. So,  I ended up fashioning a bandage out of toilet paper and a scarf  (less then ideal) and gave myself a slap on the wrist for complacency.

Why are paediatric first aid kits so important? 

Apart from the obvious fact that young children are always falling down and injuring themselves, especially in those early years where they are learning to walk and run, adult first aid kits are too big for the body part of the child being bandaged. 

For example using an adult first aid bandage on a child’s head isn’t going to work if it covers their entire face. It is important to use bandages that are an appropriate size of the child is injured. 

Having good quality band-aids or plasters are a must too !  I consider the super bond adhesive band aids an essential with young kids. The little plastic ones with super heroes on them are super cute, they do very little in terms of staying on and actually covering a wound so I’d personally steer clear of those and always opt for the super bond band-aid. 

Jess’ baby first aid tips :

Regarding child and baby wound care, the goal is to keep the wound covered and clean to avoid unwanted bacteria getting in so make sure whatever dressing you put on is going to last.

I’d also strongly recommend being armed with baby Panadol, baby Ibuprofen and if your child is over 6 months of age, then I recommend you get yourself a baby antihistamine.  Cover yourself for those unexpected aches, pains and allergies when you know you could potentially be away from the shops or medical assistance. Quality paediatric first-aid kits will provide you with a syringe for administering medications to little ones too to ensure you give accurate doses.

My final tip for baby first-aid would be this…. don’t just have a single first aid kit that you leave in your bathroom vanity. If my experience as a mother of boys has taught me anything is that you can almost guarantee you will need 2 x first aid kits. As paramedics we always recommend one first-aid kit for home and one for the car (or in my case one for the travel bag) as you can never truly know when a situation will arise where you will need it !

Special baby and kids first aid course offer from Rescueblue

The best time to do your baby first aid or kids first aid course is NOW. Book in with your partner and your parents (bub’s grandparents) with this special offer below for all BodyFabulous friends and followers

Book your Baby and Kids First Aid Course with Rescueblue and get $5 off. Simply use the CODE BODYFAB1 at checkout

Find out more details click the logo below

A big thanks to Jess for sharing her tips and life as a mama and paramedic