ACCIDENTS & FIRST AID

ACCIDENTS / FIRST AID- would you know how to deal with these if it happened when you were out on the bike ? Do you carry a first aid kit when cycling ? Would you know your location if you had to ring the emergency services ?

As a nurse & teacher of first aid , I am acutely aware of what could go wrong & what you can do until the emergency services arrive.

I always carry a phone with me whilst cycling ( & not just to Strava it !) in case of emergency. Your phone will be able to call 999 even if you don’t appear to have a signal. It will pick up the nearest available network signal. You do need battery though , so on long rides, consider taking an external battery.

Do you know what to tell the emergency services ? This might help LIONEL

L = Location ( use Ordinance Survey or What3words App)

I = Incident eg. RTC bike vs car

O = Other services eg. Fire brigade

N = Numbers of casualties

E = Extent of injuries ( ? Responsive ?

? Breathing ? Bleeding ? Fracture)

L = Location

So what might you have in your FIRST AID KIT ( see picture)

Gloves ( Iain Hindes knows I don’t like getting my hands dirty 🤣) Plasters ; Steristrips ( if plasters not enough) Haemostatic Dressing ( Quikclot) for serious bleeds ; Burnshield for ‘friction burns’ ; MASK just because CoVid not disappeared & you might need a cuppa indoors ; Gel - if you have run out of energy.

Ideally you avoid all accidents, but sometimes these are out of our control. Ideally everyone should know basic first aid or do a days course.

NDT happy to organise sessions on first aid. Remember - Stay Safe, ride sensibly