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Pet gets injured

Dog tumbles in the woods

It’s a beautiful day, you and your best friend Wilf, the slightly special Black Lab are out for an evening walk, enjoying the last of the day’s sunshine. The sun begins to set, the trees become black outlines as the light fades; a stillness settles over the woodland. Wilf is running blindly around chasing anything and everything that crosses his path. You can hear pheasants and woodpeckers; the distant call of a night owl – and then – the awful scream of your beloved pet as he chases a small animal over the edge of a wooded gully. You can hear his yelping as he tumbles down the steep incline and then all falls silent – what do you do? There’s no one close by; there’s no phone signal and you can hear a slight whimpering from tens of feet below. 

Finding a safe path down to where Wilf lies helpless and bleeding from a head wound, and possibly a broken leg, you immediately put your training into action; because thankfully, you had the good sense and awareness to attend a Pet First Aid training course when you realised how much your pet meant to you, and your family. 


No matter whether your best friend is a house pet, a working gun dog or a service dog, you need to know how to react quickly and effectively if you are far from help, or if you do not have transport to take him to the nearest vet, or there is simply no time, time will not be on your side if your pet’s injury is life threatening, getting the first aid treatment that your pet needs is vital to his survival. There are many situations in life where we feel helpless and vulnerable, and when our pets are our only companion it can be life changing if you are unable to help. Our pets; dogs or cats, rabbits or parrots will give you unconditional love, getting the correct pet first aid training from a professional provider to ensure their safety, should be a priority.


Footnote: Wilf had a broken jaw and had snapped ligaments in both front legs. The owner did pet first aid and carried him up the gully to his car (2 miles away) and he was taken to the nearest vet. Without the prompt action of the owner, ensuring Wilf was immobile and cared for, Wilf would not have survived his tumble in the woods.

10% of all online Canine First Aid courses* will be donated to the hard working National Search and Rescue dog Association known as NSARDA 
*10% of the course fee if clicked through from the button below or through the main DAC Education website
Online Canine First Aid Training
4 December 2024
A quick story time from the weekend about why having a trained first aider in a group is a great idea. This weekend one of our instructors was out in the Suffolk countryside with a mixed group of friends and strangers. As they began their walk, they hadn’t made it more than a couple of paces when one of the older gentlemen in the group went sheet white, became weak, collapsed on the ground and started vomiting. The gentleman's son was with him, caught him as he fell and called out for help. Thankfully, our instructor was within shouting distance and was the only trained first aider in the group, in fact he is a community first responder, so he had with him in his truck an oxygen tank, defibrillator and every piece of kit a first responder would need. He quickly got the gentlemen assessed taking his heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar and asked him about any past medical conditions that may be relevant. He did an assessment, used his training to ascertain whether an ambulance was needed or whether the kit he had with him was sufficient. Thankfully, an ambulance wasn’t needed but the gentleman was taken home and is feeling much better. It made us think, here in the office, that while this situation did not need an ambulance if the first aider had not been there, it would have been a scary situation for everyone because no one there really knew what to do for the best. The moral of the story is that the benefit of completing first aid training is that you never know when your skills as a trained first aider may be able to help a friend or a stranger. It is also important that anyone who has been trained in any level of first aid should carry some essential kit with them. Some useful things in a basic first aid kit would be: A couple of pairs of gloves Sterile wipes Medical tape Scissors Tweezers Gauze Resuscitation face shield Plasters Sterile bandage Triangular bandage Eye wash Emergency foil blanket Whistle (especially if you are going for walks in remote areas) Who is the best first aid training company in Suffolk? Well, this is an easy answer and here are some reasons why. Our MD is an award winning first aid instructor who has real life experience in emergency situations. We teach our Outdoor First Aid course outdoors under a parachute in the middle of Sutton Hoo Woodland. We teach all levels of first aid from basic first aid training up to the more advanced First Responder on Scene level. At the end of our higher level first aid courses in Suffolk, we use a local charity, Casualties Union, who provide actors to re-create scenarios for our learners to put into practice all their first aid training. Our instructors talk through kit requirements on all our first aid courses whether we are training you in Suffolk or at your premises, ensuring the kit is relevant to your needs. Our first aid courses are not boring! Many people dread doing a first aid course because they have a stigma of being boring and just listening to a PowerPoint presentation for six hours stuck in a classroom, being taught by someone who doesn’t actively have any real-life experience. That's not us, we get you involved, get you interacting with the equipment, pass on knowledge from real life emergencies and make it enjoyable. We offer first aid kits of varying sizes and for different requirements. Our most popular choice is a DAC mini Ouch Pouch which is the perfect pocket sized first aid kit. Is it time for you to book a first aid training course in Suffolk? Any time is a great time to complete a first aid course, and we would love to train you. Gatherings are more common at this time of year with Christmas shopping in full swing the high streets are busier, markets are full and places where crowds gather can become a hot spot for accidents, injuries or exacerbation of underlying medical conditions. We run first aid training throughout the year with open courses that anyone can join. Many of our first aid training courses are in Suffolk but we do travel nationwide as well. We would like to encourage all those who have taken a first aid course with DAC Education, or indeed, with any first aid training company in Suffolk or beyond, please do ensure that when you are out and about your skills and knowledge are not wasted and please carry with you even just a basic first aid kit. It's better to carry one and not need it, than to need it and not have one.
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