Pindimar-Bundabah residents gain resilience with NAB First Aid grant course. Myall Coast Myall Coast - popup ad Myall Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - July 5, 2023 Highly-experienced trainer Kelly Pietsch shows how to perform CPR compressions. All photos: SUPPLIED. RESILIENCE in remote bush communities was covered when the Pindimar Bundabah Community Association (PBAC) hosted two comprehensive first aid courses last week. Covering everything from dealing with snake and spider bites, choking, asthma, CPR, injuries, anaphylaxis, using the recovery position and activating a defibrillator, the course was funded by a National Australia Bank grant secured by the PBAC. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au “The NAB grant was to make communities more resilient in times of fire, flood and emergencies, and we received funding to run a course for 28 local people,” PBCA President Vivien Panhuber told News Of The Area. “The fact that it takes a while for an ambulance to get out here, and our relative isolation, formed the basis of our submission.” The first-aid course was on Sunday 25 June, and Friday 30 June, and was led by local veteran firefighter and surf life saver Kelly Pietsch, owner and lead instructor of MidCoast First Aid & Safety Training, a local business that offers a range of related courses both online and face-to-face, including a public course at the SLSC once a month. The attendees at the PBCA community centre could not have asked for a more knowledgeable tutor than Kelly. She has more than 13 years’ experience teaching first aid, was a paid lifeguard for a number of years, still remains an active SLSC volunteer, and is a retained firefighter with Tea Gardens Fire & Rescue. Kelly’s experience was beyond question in the clearly engaging instructional and anecdotal delivery of the course, as witnessed firsthand by NOTA. “Kelly is a good presenter, and it is great to have a refresher, especially with the school holidays bringing families with kids into the area,” Kathy Gillespie, who attended the course, told NOTA. Both groups are now well versed in a very broad range of physical first aid options, including the use of a new automated external defibrillator, which was recently donated to the PBCA by a member. By Thomas O’KEEFE Practising the recovery position can save lives. The new defibrillator, donated by a member. The Friday group practice bandaging for venomous bites. Clear the airways with a solid thump on the back.
