Saw this young girl and her friends walking up towards me through the town over at Chichester a while back.
It was immediately apparent that the girl in the sling was experiencing some degree of discomfort. It appeared the bandage was obviously no longer providing the correct level of comfort and support to her damaged arm.
Therefore sensing a photographic opportunity might be on the cards I stood waiting for them all to get a little closer. Eventually they instead decided to stop and make the necessary adjustments; purely in the interest of patient comfort you understand?
It was indeed a tricky moment for these novice first aiders, and the tension on the patient’s face as the image portrays; was to say the least tense. Bravely she stood there looking away into the near distance biting on her fingernails. This was no doubt her own particular way of managing her pain threshold.
The slings knot was swiftly untied, and then gently re-adjusted. Firstly at the elbow where it cradles the affected limb, and then secondly at the all important knotted end on the shoulder (or was it on the shoulder at all?) the team suddenly look a little stumped at this point.
Luckily this was only a temporary blip in their skill set, and after a bit more medical discussion, a happy solution was arrived at. The offending knot was then positioned correctly.
Finally they each offered a gentle right sided hug to their relieved patient, and before you could say ABC; these first aiders and their patient had continued on their way.
No doubt feeling very pleased with themselves at having just calmly but effectively averted another possible medical emergency.
