1st Aid Archives - Young Yoga Masters

Do You Know First Aid?

Yesterday I finished my First Aid and CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) training so I feel like shocking everyone – because now I can handle it.

The course was taught by Jim Beck of EMS and he did a great job of keeping the information relevant and fresh. That’s him in the picture saving a baby. He’s so good at it, that’s why he looks so calm.

Actually, these are the practice babies we used so we can help all ages. The shocking fact is that children can be saved by CPR more than adults because it is not usually related to a heart attack. As long as CPR is performed right away.

A couple of stories about First Aid; one that happened to me in a kids yoga class and another a parent told me about from a yoga birthday party.

but first an….

Important Notice
This week as you go to your classes (adult or children) take note of where they keep their first aid kit. Unfortunately I learned this the hard way when one child got a nose bleed (see below). The whole incident would have been much easier if I had used the First Aid Kit hanging on the wall the whole time. I just didn’t realize it was there.

The Bloody Nose Incident:
With kids’ yoga accidents can happen quite easily. The teacher needs to keep watch of where kid’s feet are going to land and how close the kids are to each other. Prevention is key!

But sometimes kids’ noses start bleeding for no known reason.

This happened in my latest First Aid situation. My student came to me with blood coming out of her nose, all over her hand, and there was also a trail of blood on the floor behind her. She said she often gets nosebleeds.

What would you do?
Fortunately it was at the community centre with another staff around so I sent one of the older kids to bring another staff for backup. I brought the child (7 years old) to the sink in the room and since I didn’t have gloves, I gave her the paper towel to hold under her nose. Then got her to pinch her own nose just below the bone and lean forward. The nosebleed stopped in a couple of minutes.

However, the room is now “contaminated” by the blood on the floor. So all the kids needed to leave the room. There was actually only 5 minutes left so parents were arriving already. We ended the class early.

The girl’s father was informed when he arrived and the necessary incident reports filled out.

Wearing gloves, the floor was cleaned with diluted bleach.

It all went pretty smoothly, although one of the staff wanted her to tilt her head back. According to First Aid, tilting forward is the recommended way so the blood can drain out. So with that in mind it really wasn’t a big deal.

Which brings me to the next incident:

Incident 2: The Yoga Birthday Party
This incident I wasn’t there for, but it is worth noting because a lot can be learned from this.

A parent told me her daughter was at a yoga birthday party and they were all learning crane pose, balancing the body on the hands.

One little girl at the party lost her balance, falling forward and planting her face into the ground. The result – 2 teeth lost.

First, according to my first aid course there are some conditions where the tooth can be re-inserted and it will re-attach on its own. So this is where first aid can really pay off.

Second, be careful with the balancing poses! Use mats for these. I like to stick to standing poses like tree or airplane, or sitting balancing as in Kundalini Lotus pose (see below).

I avoid poses like crane and headstand. If you are going to do them, use one-on-one supervision to start with.

Kids can be very fearless and not aware of the dangers of each pose so clearly the best it to prevent accidents from happening at all.

Also consider arming yourself with first aid training too.