Anxious Time to Wash Your Hands
As of this afternoon, I am certified in CPR and First Aid. Well, as much as a day’s course can provide. I’m very glad I took the course, and am happy to work with 120+ other Montreat Summer Staffers who did likewise. Having CPR/First Aid certified folks around makes Montreat a safer environment in which to work and live.
That said, the course and the questions it elicited from us, reminded me of my culture’s severe penchant for fear, anxiety, and worry. Perhaps this reaction is just part and parcel of such a course and considering the dangers we face daily. On the other hand, I wonder if twenty-five years ago such a course was even offered, and if so, if there was any discussion about the necessities of mouth guards for giving CPR, or having to get verbal permission to treat injured parties to avoid later lawsuits.
One of the things I love about summer is its carefree nature. Kids without homework and counselors without the same. Long evenings of hanging out and ice cream. Fewer demands, perhaps, or at least, a change of pace.
Call me old, but I wonder if summers have lost a bit of their fearlessness. Maybe it’s the economy or our better knowledge of allergic reactions or just the fact we know so much these days (like the CDC’s daily tracking of Lyme disease cases), but it all makes me wonder about what all the anxiety is doing to us. Was camp without cell phones, tb screenings, and antibacterial gel so bad?
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Actually, there was significant concern about administering CPR 25 years ago, as AIDS was fairly new and scary to most people. It wasn’t clear how it was spread, and saliva was thought to be one of the ways that a person could contact/catch AIDS. I think it was 1983 when it was revealed that Magic Johnson of the Lakers had AIDS (we didn’t have the language of HIV that I can recall back then). There were folks who refused to play against him because of the fear of getting AIDS.
And yes, CPR was taught 25 years ago. I have the First Aid Book that came with my study & certification by the Red Cross.
Magic Johnson wasn’t diagnosed for several years after that; it was the early ’90s when people were concerned about playing with him. We didn’t even know Rock Hudson had AIDS in 1983. But those quibbles aside…I think you are asking a very good question. We are increasingly fearful all year round. Look at all the fenced-in schools we have. My kids’ elementary school looks like a minimum security prison, all so it can be completely “locked down” at the slightest “threat.” There have been some home burglaries in the surrounding neighborhoods, which is scary. But I have friends who won’t let their middle-school-aged kids walk home from the bus stop because they’re afraid of crime. Camp was just fine without cell phones and antibacterial gel, as was childhood in general. But we have become almost obsessed with doing something, anything, to feel as though we are warding off danger. IMO the simplest measures are the best — wash your hands, don’t run with sharp objects, and don’t take candy from strangers. I hope you have a wonderful, germ-and-injury-free summer. p.s. I learned CPR more than 25 years ago, probably 35, and I don’t remember anything about mouth guards.
Ah, the benefit of years of FA/CPR training…I took my first Jr. FA course wwith my Scout troop, my dad as instructor, hen I was in middle school in the mid-60s, and that included “artificial respiration” as it was called then…and from the 60s to about 2002 took whatever swimm lessons/FA/CPR/WaterSafety instructor certification course that was needed for whatever position I was in. Worked for Red Cross from 1977-1998, most of that time in blood banking – blood donor recruitment then education and training. I remember the first conversations about HIV/AIDS and blood banking in the late 70s/early 80s, and having my firstborn preemie tested for HIV when the first more easily administered tests came out after 1985, as he had received transfusions in 1983 when he was born. As standards of practice – medical and legal – have changed, ARC FA/CPR/Watersafety/AED training has evolved as well – from no gloves, no mouthguards to what is in use today. I do recall discussions of Good Samaritan laws even 40 years ago, however!
And camp w/o all those things was wonderful – as a camper and counselor and director!