This article from Forbes talks about ‘Put it into Practise’ and as professionals, we are constantly learning. But, there’s a big difference between absorbing information and putting it into practice. Without the practice, the training you’ve received will go to waste, so it’s important to have a strategy.
This also got us thinking about those times when you actually do get to put a skill into practice. That lightbulb moment when you just ‘get it’. It may not be perfect, but there you are, doing exactly what you learnt and smashing it!
Our Medical Operations Manager, Rachel, remembers the first time she used a Bag Valve Mask on a patient who had overdosed on heroin and stopped breathing.
She told us “I remember suddenly understanding the point about pulling the jaw up into the mask, not pressing the mask down. Because all the muscles had relaxed, it was much easier than practising on a manikin. I could clearly see the chest rise and fall. My colleagues were busy with other jobs, getting IV access and giving a reversal drug, so I just needed to concentrate on this one task and feeding back information to them. .
All I could think about was getting it right - so I was incredibly task focused, but that was fine. I had a sudden realisation that if I wasn’t ventilating this patient, she would die. That’s a big responsibility. But the skill clicked into place and as a team we managed to get her breathing again.
Reflecting on the job afterwards, I remembered the magnitude of that feeling - knowing that the skill was being carried out and making a life or death difference. Yet it’s such a simple skill. I now use this experience to pass on to students in the aim of improving their confidence.”
Rob Barlow is an aircraft engineer, and member of Cheshire Search and Rescue. He learned CPR during the RTACC medical course that all team members take. As part of the team, he had the opportunity to go out on an Ambulance for the day as an observer, but never imagined he would be thrown into the thick of it straight away.
After arriving at the station and helping the ambulance crew prepare the vehicle, the first job came in and was a cardiac arrest at the roadside in a busy part of Manchester. The closer the vehicle got to the job, the more obvious it became that they were heading to a desperate situation and Rob’s adrenaline increased with the urgency.
Arriving at the scene, he could see bystanders attending to the casualty and CPR was in progress. He and the crew had discussed roles on the way to the job, so while the Paramedic went to the patient, he got busy with the other crew member, ferrying kit from the vehicle to the patient.
When the Paramedic asked him to take over CPR from a bystander, his reaction was “Sorry? What now?”, before being catapulted from observer status to CPR giver. In his own words, the rest was a blur. He carried out chest compressions and swapped with the crew, then taking over ventilations with a bag valve mask. More crews arrived and the patient was transported to hospital with several taking it in turns to continue the CPR.
He told us “It was a strange feeling. I felt confident, yet unsure all at the same time. I remember questioning how fast I should be pushing. I had doubts, and worried that I was doing it wrong. When I moved to ventilations, I noticed after a few minutes that the mask had slipped. So I stopped, adjusted it and carried on. I wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do, but I thought it was, so I just did it.
Afterwards I was buzzing. I had used my skills and genuinely felt part of the team, especially in the back of the ambulance on the way to hospital. I remember leaving the bystanders looking dazed and not knowing whether they had done right. They had no feedback and no closure, so I felt compelled to just say ‘well done’ in the hope it gave them some relief.
What I took from this experience was that when you need it, the skills work. The training that you do sets you up for the moment that may come today, tomorrow or six months down the line. But with the right training, your brain clicks in, Baby Shark (other CPR songs are available!) starts playing, and the real patient in front of you becomes the manikin you were practising on all that time ago.
Most importantly, remember that you can make a difference. You may not be doing the skill absolutely perfectly in that moment, but you are giving him or her a chance. Doing something is better than nothing.”
So, to summarise, practice does make perfect. You can reduce the effects of skill fade by taking positive action - train, train and train some more. If you’d like some inspiration or need any help putting a drill together, please get in touch.
We’ve listed a couple of articles below that might help too:
https://www.redsquaremedical.com/drill-scenario-enclosed-space
https://www.redsquaremedical.com/unconscious-on-the-foredeck
Of course, we’d also love to hear about your Lightbulb Moments when something you have learnt just clicked into place!