Kylie Malota - 2/2 - Port Lincoln Training

I have performed CPR in real life. Actually on a person. It’s not like it is in the classroom.

It is much more important. You know you are not playing around. You literally have a person’s life hanging in the balance.

It can be scary. You have a rush of adrenaline. There feels like a lot of chaos around. A family member might be crying. You might be that family member! You can’t believe it’s happening. Everything happens so fast, and yet somehow in slow motion. Your heart pounds within your chest. Your mind spins. Your brain screams at you, “What do I do?!!!”

You know what you really need in that moment? (yes, apart from the sweet, sweet sound of the ambulance siren). You need to be able to fall back on your ingrained CPR knowledge. You need to – in the midst of the noise and the people and the work – be able to say, “it’s ok, I know what to do”.

I know what to do;

Check for danger
Check for response, send for help (000).
Check airway and breathing.
Start compressions x30 and give breaths x2 –>Repeat.
(Feel free to sing ‘Staying Alive’ by the BeeGees’ to keep the beat)

Statistically it won’t be a stranger in the street who will need you to know this. Statistically it will be a person in your family, or one of your close friends.

Please learn CPR. A course takes just 2 hours. Or look it up on youtube! Just learn it. So if that time ever comes, you won’t stand there helpless – you will be able to say, “its ok, I know what to do”.

Child abuse occurs in Australia and it has terrible and long lasting effects on a person as they grow up. If you have seen a child in a situation that is raising red flags to you; you can feel helpless and overwhelmed, but there is something that you can do to help.

In South Australia there are a variety of people who either work or are volunteers in organisations working with children, who MUST by law, report suspected abuse or neglect of a child. There is a clear list of who is required to notify. However, any member of the community is able, and encouraged to make a report of suspected child abuse/neglect.

It’s important to know that you don’t need to have proof of abuse, you don’t have to have witnessed it or have any documentation or photos. You can make a report if you have “suspicion on reasonable grounds”. This means one of the following might have happened:

The child tells you they have been abused.
Your observations of behaviour of particular child or your knowledge of the child generally leads you to suspect that abuse is occurring.
A child tells you that he/she knows someone who has been abused.
Someone reliable such as relative, friend, neighbour or sibling tells you of the abuse to a child

If you think a child has been abused or neglected, you need to call the Child Abuse Reporting Line: 13 14 78.

Your name and information will be kept confidential, the family will not know that you called. You can call this phone number and just have a conversation about your concerns, you might decide you don’t have enough to go on to report at this point. Just making a report does not mean the child will be removed from the family. The person on the phone will ask you about your concerns and will make an assessment about the risk to the child based on many factors – not just your report.

If you suspect abuse or neglect is happening to a child – please ring the reporting line. It won’t hurt you, and it may save a child from an abusive situation.

If you want more information, or you need to attend a Child Safe Environment course for your work, contact us at Port Lincoln Training to find out more, it’s not as hard as you think.

CPR in real life

Suspecting Child Abuse

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