Bradford City staff taught lifesaving skills at university
Staff members from Bradford City were taught a host of lifesaving skills during a first aid course.
Mark Harrison, Bradford City’s Club Secretary; Paula Watson, Director of Operations and Senior Safeguarding Officer, and Janice Cooper, Cleaning Supervisor, took part in a day-long course, ‘Emergency First Aid at Work’, held at the University of Bradford.
They were given hands-on lifesaving skills training, using dummies to carry out CPR resuscitation techniques such as chest compressions and also used a defibrillator.
The group were offered training on how to deal with choking, minor injuries and catastrophic bleeding. They were told about CPR techniques for babies and children and how to help someone who is having a seizure.
Mark said: “The football club is so varied in the sort of people that we meet. There are so many people from so many different walks of life.
"Working on matchdays and non-matchdays, there are different people with different needs and circumstances, you don’t know what is going to be around the corner.
“It is very important to have these sorts of skills. If it can help one person, then it is worth it.”
Janice said: “I feel more confident if I had to use a defibrillator in real life after doing this course.”
Paula said: “You just never know when you are going to need to use these sorts of skills. The course at the University of Bradford has been brilliant. It has explained everything so well.”
They were the latest Bradford City employees to sign up to take part in the first aid courses at the university, which are run as one or three-day options.
Helen Hogg, First Aid and Lifesaving Development Officer at the University of Bradford, who presented the course, said: “There are an awful lot of cardiac arrests in young healthy people. A football stadium is a very high-risk environment for something like cardiac arrests.
“People think that first aid is a work-based skill, but you never know when you might need these skills.
“Early intervention is key, and we need first aiders more than ever. Just having those basic skills is important and could make the difference between life and death."
Adam Ward, Research and Knowledge Transfer Officer at the University of Bradford, also took part in the first aid course session.
The university signed a four-year sponsorship deal with Bradford City in 2022.
Go to bradford.ac.uk/first-aid for more information on the University’s first aid courses.