Residents of the Dunedin suburb gathered at the Fairfield Community Hall on Saturday to take the opportunity to learn lifesaving skills free of charge from one of the city’s premier first-aid trainers.
The First Aid Trainers director Bex Hill had the idea to host a free community first-aid training course after a medical emergency in the community recently.
"That event made me think, actually, I’d like to empower people in the community to be able to deal with things should they arise — without the financial barrier."
Ms Hill’s business usually caters to corporate clients, where she runs life-like scenarios of emergencies and explains how to respond to them.
However, she wanted people who ordinarily would not be able to afford or have the chance to attend a first-aid class to have the skill set.
The class at the Fairfield Community Hall was the first session she had hosted.
"There were all people of all different walks of life, all in positions in the community, some older, some younger, some expectant parents and probably some in there that normally couldn’t actually afford to attend a first-aid class."
The group was flying through the basics such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and responses to choking seen in almost all first-aid classes, so Ms Hill tested attendees even further.
"We took it up to a little bit of a higher level and did things other providers don’t teach, such as wound packing, tourniquets, Israeli bandages and other types of trauma bandaging.
"My intention was to teach them skills so if they are presented with something catastrophic, they have an idea on how they were going to deal with it."
Funds were raised at the event for a local father with young children who is battling cancer.
"The more of the community that we can empower, the better it is for everyone," Ms Hill said.
