Up until this moment, I've never really taken understanding how to apply first aid seriously until I gave it a deep thought some few minutes ago before making this blog. I knew how important it is, and I've even had moments where I find myself imagining scenarios where someone could suffer a medical issue on the street and I would step up like the hero I am to help them, only in this case I wouldn't have superpowers but instead have basic knowledge for medical things like CPR and the like.
And thinking of it, one of the reasons why I've never felt like I needed to learn how to apply first aid is because I've never really found myself in a position before where I needed to put the knowledge to use. But you and I know that is actually a stupid reason because if I have to wait until someone needs help to learn how to apply first aid, then it's already too late.
Some time last year, someone on the street had collapsed somewhere close to my hostel, and no one knew what was wrong with him. Rather than rush him to the hospital for anyone to help medically, the women there started to cast and bind while also speaking in tongues, a typical Nigerian behavior of watching someone die while saying a prayer when you should be rushing them to the hospital.
Not like I have anything against being religious, but I'm sure they could have done both things simultaneously, say a prayer for him while they were on their way to the hospital.
Anyway, as I watched that young man lying on the floor looking like he was unconscious, I found myself imagining that I had even the most basic medical experience and could have done something to at least revive him before taking him to the hospital.
Sadly, among everyone there, I felt I was the one with even a bit of medical knowledge because, unlike the crowd that had surrounded him there, thereby making it a lot more difficult for him to breathe under that hot sun, I had made sure to give him some distance because I knew he would need as much air as he could get.
Luckily for him, he ended up regaining his consciousness and later walked away by himself. But imagine how that whole thing could have gone wrong, simply because none of us there had any knowledge on how to help him. What could have even been sadder is if he had died due to something that easily could have been avoided.
If you ask me, first aid should be a compulsory course taught in every school, just the same way the government has made entrepreneurship compulsory. And this is because having even the tiniest bit of knowledge could go a long way in saving a life, and what's even scarier is that it could be you or I who might be on that floor, waiting and praying for help.