OFA Level 3 class finally passed

What's OFA Level 3 you say? It's Occupational First Aid (in Canada, BC), and somebody who has this ticket is the next best thing to a paramedic if you are physically injured at work or in an accident etc. I finally passed that course today and I am licensed now for the next 2 years. This is definitely a nice small milestone in my life.

2 weeks of non-stop classes, 8 hours a day, 2 hours of homework every night and then a midterm and a final test of half a day of practical and then a written test with 100 questions on it. It doesn't seem like much as I write it here but I've never been more physically and mentally exhausted for 2 whole weeks in my life.

It's most certainly not just sitting around in a desk copying stuff of a board or something, we got right in there rolling people around, applying all kinds of bandages and splints, tying people to spine boards and long minutes of continuous CPR. Anybody who has taken CPR before can understand exactly how tiring CPR can get when you don't have relief come in.. and this is pretty much everyday for 2 weeks.

In the test, the practical is a lot of work as you are given 3 scenarios with live patients plus a CPR scenario with a CPR doll called Annie. The 3 scenarios can really be anything and you have to be ready for it all. I think the hardest part really was just remembering every little thing that has to be done and in what order.

I had one scenario where a guy had been hit by a part of a tree that I was winching apart and it smoked him in the chest. Another was a crushed hand in a chain drive, and the walk-in (to the first aid room) was somebody who had stepped on a nail. As you can see these are all very different types of wounds, and the severity is all very different. Quite challenging.

Just to mention though, it's not like I plan on going out and working at a place to be the first aid attendent (even though I now could easily) I thought I'd take the course not only for my own knowledge (you never know what could happen) but perhaps one day I can get into volunteer Search and Rescue.

I'd have to say I learnt a LOT from this course and when I get a moment I'm going to put together a quick application I think with questions and post it here. Then people can test whether they know some of the basics of first aid and maybe a few hard questions. Hopefully people would be interested to see it and try it out.

If you are thinking of doing first aid for any reason I really recommend it. You really never know what is going to happen and it doesn't hurt just to have that extra info in your head when you are faced with some kind of emergency like a family member having a heart attack.

Posted by Graeme at June 28, 2005 09:18 AM