What our customers say about us

Michelle  

Just wanted to write and say thank you for all the first aid training you have done over these past few years. Unfortunately three of us from work that have taken your course multiple times had to use the training this past week.

So you know that last course where I played a victim that had their right thumb severed, and I was hysterical and really difficult? Well, luckily in real life when this happened I was calm, collected, and handled the situation really well.

We were out boating, about 20 km offshore. I was getting back into a fiberglass boat and somehow managed to get my thumb stuck between the rock and boat. Crushed it and partially severed the top of my thumb. I just felt a slight pain in my thumb and raised it to shake the pain away, like you would do when you stubbed a finger. But then I saw that I was missing part of my thumb and blood was gushing everywhere. I had a moment of "holly fuck, I have no thumb and I'm bleeding everywhere and we are in the middle of nowhere" but within seconds I went into "this is an emergency situation and you have to get your shit together and be calm and deal with this" mode. I wrapped my hand around the base of my thumb to stop the bleeding and raised my hand above my heart. I looked down and saw a part of my thumb stuck to the outside of the boat and thought "I should keep this". So I took it and set it on top of where it should have been. Turned to the other people on the boat and said calmly "ok, we need to get some gauze on top of this to stop the bleeding". They were shaking and fumbling with the first aid kits and I said "its going to be ok, we need to just focus on stopping the bleeding. And then we need some ice to put my thumb in". We wrapped it up, sat me in the back of the boat. I said I was going to sit on the floor because I was feeling faint and might pass out. I held my hand tightly and above my heart and just focused on breathing and staying calm. It was a 45 minute boat ride back to land. And then another 45 minute ride to the hospital in Gander. But I managed to think about everything but my hand. And after the first minute of "holy fucks" the other two with me handled the situation really well and did all the right things (continuously checked for bleeding, kept me talking and making sure I wasn't going into shock, got information about allergies, meds for the hospital, etc.).

Once we got to the hospital and I was in emerg with the nurses, then I of course broke down and started to cry. But they gave me a nice shot of meds to deal with that. We all said that we were very thankful for our first aid training with you and others over the years, and that having practiced all these realistic scenarios definitely helped in this situation. I always thought I would handle these situations well, but at least now I know that I can.

Although the injury looked really gruesome at the time, it turned out not to be as bad as I thought. I did loose part of the bone and all of the flesh and tissue on the top joint of my thumb. But it due time, it will all heal for the most part. I might have an ugly and slightly shorter thumb, but I'll still have all the same functionality.

So again, thank you. I know it's not good when people get hurt, but when they do, your training was very useful. It was a textbook wilderness first aid situation and we were all really prepared.

Craig Smith 1st Paradise Group Commissioner

We completed this course with a mix of youth (age 13-16) and adults. The first comment that comes to mind is excellent.

The course material was very relevant to what we wanted covered. The "real life" role playing emergencies were a super way to learn. Learn by doing is certainly the name of the game with PSE.

The instructors were very knowledgeable in the subject area and very easy to understand. Management of PSE was super easy to deal with.

Having done first aid training numerous times throughout my career I can certainly say this was the most educational time I have ever had. Learned more and did more.

I would highly recommend this and any other course being offered by PSE.