Asthma and thunderstorms

Abstract

260 Letters to the Editor rescue service.To remedy this deficiency, bystander resuscitation schemes have been proposed and, in some instances, introduced.The success of these schemes must depend upon the skill of the course organisers and the enthusiasm of the general public.It is encouraging that a significant proportion (36%) of the City of London population have already had some training in First Aid, including the techniques of expired air respiration (31%) and external chest compression (23%).The lack of repeat training and testing (0-2%) is disappointing, although predictable in view of the time taken to complete a traditional First Aid course.Voluntary First Aid organisations (for example, St John's Ambulance) have been extremely keen to be involved in our bystander resuscitation scheme.Basic life support (BLS) teaching can be provided in a 2-hour package and our survey shows that two- thirds of the population would be willing to undertake this form of training.Bystander scheme training and traditional First Aid teaching are not mutually exclusive, indeed, they are complementary, and we would hope that some people taught on bystander schemes may then wish to go on to further training on a full First Aid course run by one of the voluntary organisations.Our survey shows that 73% of employees have some medical or paramedical provision on-site, including 22% who have on-site doctor, nurse and First Aider.This does not, however, satisfy the requirements of Seattle for one-third of the population to be trained in BLS and employers must be persuaded of this.A successful bystander training scheme for BLS requires the cooperation of employers, a sufficient number of trainers, time for both training and re-training and the continued support of the general public.