As a community, having a fully equipped and efficiently functioning medical first responders team is a bit like having an insurance policy. On your house. Your car. Your possessions. Your life.
Not something you think about often, but something you’re very grateful to have when you actually need it.
The thing is, like an insurance policy, it costs.
How so? Well, our medical first responders are Coastal Kindness volunteers who give freely of their time and skills. On the other hand, the jump bags and grabber bags containing all the medical equipment they might need in an emergency come at a cost. A considerable cost.
A jump bag, fully loaded, costs about R5 000. Coastal Kindness currently owns three, all purchased with community donations. They contain everything a first responder could need to assist you in an emergency. In addition, a jump bag contains equipment and supplies which could be used by a doctor or paramedic, should one happen to arrive at the scene. The jump bags are large and pretty unwieldy, though necessary.
As you can see in the photo of team leader Nick Albrightson, they are quite big. Nick is, of course, wearing his hi-vis vest, identifying him as a first aider, and carrying one of our AEDs (also purchased with community donations).
We have three jump bags and would dearly like a fourth.
In the next pic, you can see Nick, still carrying the AED, but wearing a sort of rucksack. Much lighter, and much easier to carry, making it easier to move quickly. It’s called a Grabber Bag. Perfectly named, don’t you think, for something you grab and run to the car with when that emergency call comes through?
Currently we have four grabber bags but as our team of first responders grows, we quite urgently need more. They cost, fully loaded with everything a first responder could need, in the region of R2 500 each.
Ideally there should be a first responder with a jump bag and another with a grabber bag at the scene of an accident or medical emergency.
And then, of course, the supplies in the bags need to be replenished or replaced when used. And if the AED is used, new pads will be needed – at a princely R1 200 each! And they can only be used once.
Add to this the cost of new, updated equipment. For instance, as you perhaps know, mouth-to-mouth is no longer used in resuscitation. Instead there is an ambu bag, consisting of a mask, valve and bag. And instead of the sleeve and pump and stethoscope to take a blood pressure reading, there is a handy gadget that looks a bit like a (very) smart watch that does it all for you.
So then each jump bag and each grabber bag needs this additional equipment. And it all adds up.
See it as an insurance premium! Or see it as paying it forward.
But however you choose to see it, making a donation now, no matter how small, means that when you need that medical assistance in a dire emergency, the team can be there for you – and at no charge!
See it as your chance to make a difference, to make this a safer place, to ensure you – or your loved ones – have a fighting chance in an emergency …
Coastal Kindness – thanking you for your continuing generosity