The signs of a brain tumour – vomiting, headaches, blurred vision and loss of coordination – are easily mistaken for more common illnesses. GP’s only come across 1 or 2 cases of child brain tumours in their career hence brain tumours can easily go undetected. Headsmart, through a website, leaflets and pocket-sized symptoms cards now educate parents and health professionals to help drive down diagnosis time in children.

Brain Tumours are still very rare with 500 new cases per year in the UK but we could all do with more education to spot the symptoms faster. Visit Headsmart to improve your awareness.

If you know of a child who exhibits two or more of the symptoms listed take them to your GP right away and bring the Headstart leaflet with you. Download it at http://www.headsmart.org.uk/admin/uploads/8pp_leaflet_lo_res.pdf

Hello. My name is Pauline. I have been working as a First Aid trainer with the Parent Company for the past couple of years. I am really pleased to share some of my thoughts and experiences with you to help you to get a feel for what a class is like and to get the most out of our classes.

I have been asked if I get bored teaching the same subjects over and over again. Well, no actually. So far I haven’t. Each class has been a positive experience, hopefully for all concerned. Some of the classes have been more memorable than others for various reasons.

Every Class is Different and Memorable

I won’t easily forget one of my very first classes. I arrived home afterwards and bent down to untie my shoelaces in front of our hall mirror to realise that my carefully chosen casual but smart shirt was just that in my upright position but on my hands and knees on the floor during the Basic Life Support demonstration must have afforded a fine view of my cleavage each time I bent down. I didn’t know whether to be mortified or grateful that the dad who appeared to have a blood pressure problem and issue with concentrating was likely to have been merely embarrassed at my flashing. Sir, I apologise and hope you managed to take something in despite my distractions.

The familiar and comfortable feeling I had as I sipped my tea and nibbled my cake (cut into quarters, no doubt in case I choked before I delivered my session) served to me by a sombre butler at a gorgeous flat in Knightsbridge only reinforced my long-held view that in a previous lifetime my background had not been so humble. It felt sooooooo right.

Building Rapport Between Parent and Trainer

The session in the tiny flat with the six mums and various babies, sticks out in my memory for two reasons. One, we almost had to sit on each other’s laps in order to have space to practice the BLS skills and, two, there was such a fantastic rapport and laughter between those women during the session that I was still laughing myself half way home.

I never know what to expect before each class but they are invariably entertaining, enlightening and empowering for all concerned.

‘But I Waaaaaant one Naaaaaoooooooow!’ The sound of a whining child can jangle your nerves like the sound of fingernails down a blackboard. That high pitched plaintive cry repeated over and over again can irritate like nothing else especially if you are tired, rushing to get out, or trying to concentrate on something. How can you stop it in its tracks?

We probably don’t need to tell you but you know you have a whiner when:

• they target one parent with their behaviour and relentlessly pursue them,
• they lose the ability to respond rationally to the situation, and
• at it’s worst the whiner almost becomes trance-like and difficult to reach.

Tips on Stopping a Child Whining

Sound familiar? So what do we do about it?

1. Zero tolerance on whining
Try phrases such as “whiners get nothing” or “when you talk in that whiny way I can’t hear what you are saying”. Don’t ever give in to the whiner as this just confirms to them that the tactic works and they will try it again and again and again!

2. Teach them an alternative
Give your child other options or alternative behaviours to focus on instead. Teach them that the way to get a response from you is to talk in their “normal” voice.

3. Nip it in the bud the moment it starts
Be firm and clear about what behaviour you expect, the more we ignore it the more they will dig themselves into a hole and the harder it will be to get them out of it.

One tip which works well with smaller children is to open the front door and ask them to give you the whining voice (you pretend it is in your hand) then you throw it out of the door and shut it. This often helps them to get out of the pattern of behaviour and move on.

Most children grow out of whining, so time is on your side, some of us still do it occasionally when we are all grown up – you know who you are!

(Extracted from the seminar Discipline – Finding the Balance)

Learning First Aid is an empowering experience. You may walk in to the class feeling uncertain and insecure about your skills. You should come away from the class feeling confident and prepared and valuable. So many people are frightened to learn first aid and think that they won’t be able to do it in a crisis. I wanted to tell you the story about how First Aid saved my sons life and hear about your stories where First Aid helped.

My son, Luke, choked on a grape when he was 13 months and would not be here today were it not for the actions of our nanny who administered Basic Life Support until the ambulance arrived. His lungs collapsed completely and he was on a life support machine at Great Ormond Street hospital for 5 long days. We were told that if he made it at all, severe brain damage was inevitable.

The First Aid Chain of Survival

Seven years on, and 8 year old Luke is in perfect health mentally and physically. We call him our miracle child and still can’t quite believe that he is absolutely fine. Every day I wake up and remember how lucky we are.

The doctors at Great Ormond Street talked about the ‘chain of survival’ which is made up of all of the people involved in helping an accident victim to survive. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In the case of Luke, the first link of the chain, our nanny, was strong and then luckily so too were the others.

Effective First Aid Saves Lives

Ironically, I had just started to offer First Aid classes through my company – The Parent Company. We had run one class for 20 participants the month before Luke’s accident and had another scheduled for the month after. Luke’s accident crystallised for me, what a responsibility it was to teach First Aid. I sat down with my business partner, Dr Peter Thompson who is a Paediatric Emergency consultant, and took a long hard look at the Basic Life Support Classes we offered at The Parent Company. I knew from personal experience that First Aid can save lives and I wanted to make sure that the classes that we offered created the best possible learning environment.

We came up with an approach that seems to work and revolves around classes
- that are small enough for everyone to receive attention and care, but large enough to allow participants to learn from each other as well as the teacher,
- taught by nurses with paediatric experience who are knowledgeable and sensitive to the needs of parents,
- can be taught in peoples own homes because that is where they are most comfortable.

Empowering Parents to Cope with Emergencies

In the first year or so after Luke’s accident I found it difficult to rationally discuss First Aid, or grapes, with friends or customers. I was overzealous and keen to convince them to learn First Aid at any costs. I would march up to strangers feeding their children grapes in supermarkets and lecture them about cutting grapes in half, I would surprise test my friends and family to check that they were ready to administer First Aid at any time. I have now learnt that scare tactics do not work. Parents are already scared about the potential accidents and injuries that could befall their children, and if they have not learnt First Aid, it is probably because they are having trouble facing their fear.

Now I focus on trying to instil confidence in parents. Our classes are all about empowering parents and helping them to believe in themselves and their ability to manage in an emergency.

I get such pleasure from making this training available to parents and hearing stories about how it has helped in an accident or injury situation. Please e-mail me at kerri@theparentcompany.co.uk

Learn to:
• provide correct artificial breathing and chest compressions
• recognise and respond to choking
• put your baby or child into the recovery position

Our trainers will bring along resuscitation dolls appropriate to the ages of the children, to help demonstrate the actions needed. Every person in the class is given ample opportunity to practice and boost their confidence.

The content of this Basic Life Support class complies with both British and European Resuscitation Guidelines and is internationally recognised as appropriate for the first responder action required to save a baby’s or child’s life.

Details
Price: from £50 per person
Duration: 2hrs (or up to 3hrs for larger class sizes)
Venue: At Home, at a Public Venue or at Work
No prior knowledge necessary. All equipment provided including a glossy laminated A3 wall chart to take home. Certificates provided upon request.

Where to learn?

Part one
What you can do as a first responder when a baby or child is injured. We teach you what your objective should be as the first responder in each of these scenarios, how to assess the severity and how to respond. This first aid course for parents covers the most common accidents or injuries:

Part two
Fever management and medical emergencies, including convulsions, meningitis and abdominal pain.

Details
Price: from £50 per person
Duration: 2hrs (or up to 3hrs for larger class sizes)
Venue: At Home, at a Public Venue or at Work
No prior knowledge necessary. All equipment provided including a glossy laminated A3 wall chart to take home. Certificates provided upon request.

Where to learn?

For example:

• A customised two hour class for a smaller group, which covers the At Home with Basic Life Support curriculum in full, and parts of the At Home with Accidents and Injury in the remaining time.

• You may have a child with particular medical needs and requires a more customised class for conditions such as allergies, asthma or seizures.

• You may be travelling somewhere which requires you to be better equipped for less common medical emergencies.

• An after school club to equip all staff and volunteers with basic first aid skills for specific scenarios.

Details:
No prior knowledge necessary.
All equipment provided including two glossy laminated A3 wall charts to take home.
Certificates provided upon request.

Build Your Own Class duration, size and cost will vary depending on your needs. Please contact us for a quote for a customised course.

Costs

Weekend and evening rates are at NO extra charge (prices includes VAT where applicable and is subject to change).

Organise a Bespoke Class

What happens after I click send?
We’ll get back to you right away so that you can be sure we received your request *
We’ll contact our wonderful paediatric nurses that live and work near you to find out when they are available. This may take a day or two because many of them will be at work in their NHS jobs day and night and we have to wait until they are free and awake.
We’ll suggest a few dates which you can share with your family and friends and then we will agree an appointment time that suits you
* Enquiries made after 3pm weekdays may not be responded to until the next working day as our office hours are mum friendly and we close at 3 pm. Enquiries made over the weekend will be dealt with first thing on Monday morning.

Accidents & Injury in Richmond on 15 May 2012

Location: Pools on the Park, Old Deer Park, Twickenham Road , Richmond , Surrey , TW9 2SF
Date: Tuesday 15 May, 2012
Time: 9.30 to 11.30am
Spaces: 7 participants per class

 

Price: £50.00

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Accidents and Injury in North West London 7th March 2012

Location: Gymboree in the O2 Centre, 1st Floor,
255 Finchley Road, London NW3 6LU
Date: Wednesday 7th March, 2012
Time: 8:00 to 10:00pm
Spaces: 7 participants per class

 

Price: £50.00

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What you will learn

On this course you will learn how to treat common injuries and illnesses such as wounds and cuts, burns and scalds, head injuries, allergic reactions and electric shock. These are injuries that our paediatric nurse trainers see every day. They will explain how they happen, how to avoid them, how to treat them and how to assess the severity of the injury over time so that you can decide whether additional medical assistance is needed. The course also covers medical emergencies and how to recognise serious illness in babies and children.

With a maximum of 7 people per class every person in the class is given ample opportunity to ask questions and boost confidence.

Costs

In this class you will learn what to do when a baby or child falls ill or is is injured. This first aid course covers the most common injuries such as electric shock, wounds and cuts, burns and scalds; plus how to cope with medical emergencies, including convulsions, meningitis and abdominal pain.

The paediatric nurse who visits your home will all the equipment required. Every person in the class is given ample opportunity to ask questions and tailor learning to their individual circumstances.

Costs

Weekend and evening rates are at NO extra charge (prices includes VAT where applicable and is subject to change).

Book this Class

What happens after I click send?
We’ll get back to you right away so that you can be sure we received your request *
We’ll contact our wonderful paediatric nurses that live and work near you to find out when they are available. This may take a day or two because many of them will be at work in their NHS jobs day and night and we have to wait until they are free and awake.
We’ll suggest a few dates which you can share with your family and friends and then we will agree an appointment time that suits you
* Enquiries made after 3pm weekdays may not be responded to until the next working day as our office hours are mum friendly and we close at 3 pm. Enquiries made over the weekend will be dealt with first thing on Monday morning.