In a continuing effort to provide northerners with basic medical education, Jessie Horodecki from JMH First Aid & CPR Training Services set up at the Northern Manitoba Sector Council Nov. 10 to conduct a free workshop.
Horodecki’s students were members of Men Are Part of the Solution’s (MAPS) Phoenix House program, who are living together in a drug- and alcohol-free environment as a means of transitioning away from a life of addiction and violence.
For around six hours, Horodecki taught these men how to perform fundamental first aid techniques, including administering CPR, assisting someone who is choking and spotting the early signs of a heart attack or stroke.
MAPS president Oswald Sawh says this course was set up so that these men can look after each other during their stay at the transitional housing facility on Stanford Bay in Thompson.
“If there’s ever a period where there’s health issues with any of them, if any of them pass out or choke or something, we want them to have the ability to be able to know basic CPR until an ambulance comes,” he said.
Sawh also mentioned that these first aid techniques will come in handy once these men graduate from this program and strike out on their own.
“Our main thing is that we’re trying to get these guys to transition into more independent living,” said Sawh. “This helps a lot in regards to some basic skills that could transition into the workforce.”
Horodecki said that JMH organizes free workshops every November to coincide with CPR month, which is an awareness campaign pushed by various organizations such as the Canadian Red Cross and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
“Every November we try to give back to the community, whether it’s through the transient population or MAPS or next year, hopefully, it will be the women’s shelter in Nelson House,” she said.
For more information on JMH First Aid & CPR Training Services, please visit their Facebook page.
