Building on nearly twenty years of experience within the NHS, Katie McCandless has high aspirations for Mini First Aid Mid Kent. Katie says:

 

“My dream is to be able to get to a point where first aid is such a natural thing. I want to take the fear out of it, so that it is almost second nature for everyone and hopefully by taking my classes into school it will help this to be the case. Teach them young!!”

 

Katie brings a breadth of experience to Mini First Aid Kent. As an Operating Department Practitioner, Katie provides care and support during all phases of patients’ operations from anaesthetic and surgery, through to recovery. She has worked across specialties including trauma, paediatrics, gynaecology, emergency caesarean sections, colorectal, orthopaedics, urology and oncology. When called to A&E, Katie mainly assists with CPR for both children and adults.

 

 

More recently, Katie has been called to work in a COVID ITU (Intenstive Care Unit).  Katie talks about the experience:

 

“Working in the ITU was pretty daunting to say the least but it was really interesting and I learned such a lot. People’s lives can literally turn on a sixpence, so I think it’s so important to live for every day.”

 

Katie strongly believes in the importance of learning first aid. She says:

 

“I would say that first aid is such a valuable skill to have. Hopefully you’ll never be in a situation where you’ll need to use it but if you are, surely it is better to be able to say that you knew what to do and tried to save a life. As a parent, I just couldn’t imagine having to sit back and watch a loved one in a desperate time of need and feeling helpless. 

 

The same goes for leaving our children in the care of others, whether it be a grandparent, neighbour, friend. Do they know what to do in an emergency? Ultimately, first aid is an essential life skill and you could save a life.”

 

To book a first aid class with Katie, CLICK HERE