First Aid Certification - 4 Kinds of Courses for Different Individuals

First aid, as the name suggests, is the foremost line of treatment during any injuries or health problems, both major and minor ones. Such instances happen without warning and will often catch you off guard, but if you know first aid then you can administer the suitable treatment till further help can reach you. A situation requiring first aid can arise at your home, place of work or even when you are travelling and thus it is preferable for everyone to learn about this procedure.

There are a number of first aid certificate courses available, find out which category of courses from the ones mentioned below will suit you best.

• The Simple Individual: If you want to learn first aid in a personal capacity and not for any occupation then a basic course will suffice for you. Such a course covers the topic in brief and teaches you how to tackle general situations. Knowledge gained from such a course can be very beneficial to your own family members and friends and can come in handy for your colleagues at your workplace too. Furthermore if you happen to be the first person at the scene of any accident and cannot find any medical assistance nearby then you can help the person yourself and maybe even save a life.

• Occupations in Healthcare: While first aid training is advisable for all it is of course most important in the field of healthcare, in fact it is mandatory for professionals like doctors, nurses and paramedics to secure a first aid certification. Courses for healthcare personnel are more advanced where different situations and methods to treat them are taught in more detail. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and using equipments like automated external defibrillators also form a part of the course. Furthermore due to the threat of infections in a healthcare environment such personnel may also be trained on importance of using the appropriate gear for safety.

• Other Professions: Besides healthcare where first aid certification is a must there are many other professions where such skills will be preferred by the employer. Some such professions and fields include school staff, day care workers, fitness trainers, adventure sports, and any potentially hazardous occupations like construction or where heavy machinery is being operated. Courses for such professions will teach you how to respond to any emergencies and use the contents of the first aid kit.

• Special Situations: In addition to the above you may be working in a profession that may require learning first aid which focuses on a particular specialized area. If you work in remote environments like the wilderness which is frequented by trekkers, campers and nature enthusiasts you will have to be prepared for delayed medical assistance and poor transport and gain first aid skills accordingly. Similarly if your job revolves around infants and small children you will be required to pick up skills relevant to such individuals.

The kind of first aid course will depend on your purpose and profession whereas the duration and validity of certification will vary according to the level of advancement.

Advanced Healthcare Directive - 4 Reasons Why It Is a Good Idea to Get One

An advanced healthcare directive allows you to prepare a list of instructions or choose an agent so that at a future date if you are unable to take decisions about your health your wishes as per the directive can be followed. But there are more reasons why you must get an advanced directive made, 4 important ones are mentioned below.

• Improving the Quality of Life: A better understanding of the human body and the various problems that can affect it has lead to tremendous advancements in the healthcare field. While the sophisticated technology continues to save lives, it also ends up prolonging life where no recovery is possible and often leaves the patient in a vegetative or comatose state or in constant pain. In many cases the patient can be confined to nursing homes, bedridden, or require assistance of feeding tubes. Such a condition can be very burdensome for the patient both physically and mentally. In such situations a directive can help to minimize or stop any invasive treatment that may be uncomfortable and ineffective for recovery.

• Family Concerns: Any illness or accident is taxing on the patient and furthermore also affects the family and close friends. A family will not know the wishes of the patient which can lead to unending arguments and cause bitterness when deciding on the best way of treatment. This not only causes delay but also additional distress to the patient and the family. A directive made out and communicated well in advance will ensure that when the time comes the family or the appointed proxy can arrive at the decision as per the patient's wishes. Another advantage is that such a directive prepares the family beforehand especially in the case of a terminal illness or end-of-life treatment, who are then better prepared to handle the situation.

• Financial Aspect: Money will be the last thing on your mind when a loved one is unwell. But the financial aspect cannot be disregarded, in fact studies have shown that almost one-fifth of the families suffer some kind of adverse financial impact like having to quit the job or losing all their savings due to prolonged and avoidable medical treatments. When making the directive the concerned person will give due importance to the financial condition or medical insurance and accordingly instruct on the line of treatment to be followed. This helps the family to avoid superfluous spending at the cost of destabilizing themselves without attaching any guilt.

• Doctors Viewpoint: In many regions even verbal instructions are valid if witnessed by sufficient number of people, but when the time comes the doctor may be hesitant especially when it involves vital treatment or instructions for 'do not treat' or 'do not resuscitate'. An advanced directive made out on paper provides the doctor with the required immunity and ensures that your instructions are carried out without delay.

An advanced healthcare directive will ensure better implementation of your wishes and is useful to everyone involved whether it is you or your family and the doctors.

CPR Certification Courses: 4 Types

The procedure that is applied on a person who stops breathing or who develops irregular heart function due to an ailment is known as Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR. Getting a CPR certification is something to seriously think about. CPR saves lives. Nowadays many professions are making it compulsory to acquire a CPR certification.

Adult CPR certification includes primary level of training for those who want general CPR skills. There are a number of courses offered and many courses provide knowledge on how to use automated external defibrillator (AED) and how to provide first aid, as these two skills go together.

Generally there are 4 types of CPR certification courses:

• Level A CPR:

The CPR level A is an all-encompassing course that will bestow you with the required knowledge to apply CPR on adults in emergency situations.

This course includes the following topics:

* Understanding risk factors of diseases and learning which factors can and cannot be prevented.

* Recognizing the main symptoms of cardiac arrest.

* Knowing the benefits of proper positioning for a recovery patient.

* Knowing signs and symptoms of choking and how to provide the required first aid.

* Knowing how to do CPR on adult patients.

• Level A CPR and AED:

Other than the topics included in Level A CPR, this course covers some additional topics. It covers learning about the safe use of AED, need for AED's, how the human heart functions and how to use the AEDs properly in a cardiac arrest victim.

These AEDs are small devices that are light in weight. They can record ventricular fibrillation (VF) by looking at a person's heart rhythm, which is known as sudden cardiac arrest.

• Level C CPR:

Like CPR Level A this is also an all-inclusive course that will provide you with the knowledge to perform CPR on infants, children and adults in case of emergencies.

The following topics are covered here:

* Knowing the risk factors for diseases and the factors that can and cannot be prevented.

* Recognizing the sign of cardiac arrest.

* Knowing how to apply CPR for a child or infant.

* Identifying the signs of choking in an adult, child or infant and knowing what to do.

* Knowing how to correctly place the victim in the recovery position.

• Level C CPR and AED:

This course covers the topics dealt in Level C and also teaches why we need AEDs and how to use AEDs safely on infants and children. It also teaches about the workings of the heart and the correct way of using AEDs on victims of cardiac arrest.

Assessment of practical Competency: You will be assessed based on your skills and competency levels during the course. All those who are able to prove their abilities in applying the required skills at the end of the course will be issued their CPR certification.

All courses some along with a course manual. This article would have cleared any doubts you may have had about the type of CPR training you want to attend. So enroll now and get started.

Hemorrhoids Treatment - Varying the Treatment for Different Stages

Choosing the best hemorrhoids treatment for your piles can be difficult, especially if you are currently experiencing a serious case of the disease. In most situations, individuals merely just desire to resolve the issue rapidly and would gladly take any solution that pledges to provide pain relief. Unfortunately, this will not work if a person does not have a good idea of what they are dealing with and so match the treatment to the problem. There are several different stages to a case of hemorrhoids and patients should understand precisely what they are handling before starting the proper therapy.

This short article is not able to give you specific medical advice, but it can indicate a path to follow. So, with that in mind, here are descriptions of the various stages of hemorrhoids and some preliminary thoughts about just how to treat them.

First Degree

The initial stage is when the piles are still within the anus, making it very uncomfortably and scratchy. At this time selecting a treatment that brings comfort is the greatest expedient. One way to accomplish this would be to administer some cold compress, successfully anesthetizing and soothing the anus and for that reason doing away with the burning sensation. Note that during the first stage, it is already possible to find a bit of blood on the stool or perhaps have the sensation of constantly being full. Mark that blood on the stools might have arisen from other causes therefore an initial medical analysis should be sought.

Second Degree

This degree begins to be more distressing as you start to feel as if your bowel movements are never complete. At this point, the piles become loose, threatening to fall out of the anus. During the second degree, the piles may well fall out of the anus during bowel movement and then quickly come back in again. That is why most people think they are voiding a stool and not being successful about it. This second stage is not always identified as a deterioration of the condition needing different treatment to effect a cure. The patient may continue with simple pain relief but this does nothing to improve the underlying condition. Should there be any suspicion of hemorrhoid at this point however; individuals should consult a physician right away. More successful home treatments are available.

Third Degree

The third degree is reached whenever the body is no longer capable of immediately hiding the piles. Instead, sufferers would need to manually re-insert them to the anus and that can be uncomfortable, if not painful. At this point, the condition can no longer be ignored and individuals must seek the attention of a doctor as soon as possible.

Fourth Stage

The fourth stage is when it is no longer feasible to physically insert the fallen out piles within the anus. Fortunately this is a very rare occurrence, especially if early treatment has been provided. Instead, the skin stays there permanently, effectively increasing the discomfort not only during bowel movement but also during all kinds of movement. Obviously, affected individuals ought to be following the care of a physician at this point.

Preferably, individuals should consult their doctor as soon as they find something wrong with their bowel motion. The sooner a clear analysis is provided then the sooner the right hemorrhoids treatment can be provided and the greater would be the possibilities of recovery.

Remember to validate your suspicions of hemorrhoids by seeing a doctor for diagnosis before taking any drugs. For individuals who suspect one of the early stages of hemorrhoids however, it is feasible to commence a natural hemorrhoids treatment to make the procedure easier. This include eating more fiber in the form of fruits and vegetables together with increasing the fluid intake. Simply put - drink more water. Using this advice the condition will be eased and the cure begun as the stools will be softer so their passing will reduce pain from inflamed veins.

Symptoms of Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a serious health disorder that affects the minority of pregnant women. It is usually pronounced during second trimester and third trimester in pregnancy. This disease is very deadly and associated with many signs and symptoms of which the majority is very silent in nature.

The main and first symptom of preeclampsia is hypertension. Hypertension means increase in the blood pressure. The degree of blood pressure in pregnant women varies. High increase in the blood pressure imposes is the first symptom of Preeclampsia in pregnant women.

Increase in the urinary protein is one of the symptoms related to Preeclampsia. Urine is an end product of filtration of the kidney during deamination. When the kidney becomes severely affected, ultra filtration of the products of digestion is impaired. Kidney functionality determines the amount of urine produced per body stream. Deamination is the bodily process where amino groups are removed from excess proteins. It happens most often in the liver and kidneys. It allows the system to convert excess amino acids to soluble carbon and hydrogen. Deamination plays important role in the removal of nitrogenous waste from the body. Amino groups discarded as a result of the process are converted into ammonia, which is later expelled from the body through urination. Improper function of the kidney causes protein to flow into the urine and causes health problem.

Changes in reflex and nervous system are another factor. The nervous system coordinated the body system and its functionality. The nervous system controls and coordinates all our actions as humans as all the body systems are connected to each other. Preeclampsia affects the central nervous system which results to severe headache, impaired vision, partial and sometimes total blindness.

Abdominal Pains as a result of liver malfunction. The liver being a vital organ in the body plays important role in digestion. This is specifically connected to protein and amino acids stability. Through deamination and detoxication of protein, the liver gets rid of nitrogenous waste products that are not excreted by the kidney from the blood stream.

Another symptom of Preeclampsia in pregnant women if drastic gain in body weight. This gain in weight results from accumulation of body fluid around the waste. As the fluid increases in accumulation, the weight also increases.

The body malfunction due to Preeclampsia also causes swollen of feet, legs, face and hands. These swollen are common during the third trimester in pregnancy and sometimes being neglected during the diagnoses of Preeclampsia. It becomes a risk factor when the swollen becomes abnormal.

Preeclampsia causes absence or reduced urinal output. As the functionality of the kidney and he liver are affected, it drastically affect the volume of urine produced.

Dizziness, nausea and excess vomiting are all symptoms of preeclampsia. The baby gets daily normal protein nourishment from blood supplied through the placenta from the mother. Insufficient supply of this blood stream to the unborn child results to poor body growth and development.

Preeclampsia is a dreadful and killer disease which should not be taken for granted as most of these symptoms are silent in nature and causes much complication before being diagnosed. If affects both mother and unborn child. Adequate measures should be taken in getting rid of it diagnosed for the safety of both parties involved.

How Do You Control Compulsive Snack Eating?

I attended a birthday party for a friend of mine, who has an autistic child. I observed how the child was a compulsive snack individual, who was eating unhealthy foods. In addition, he was eating the snacks in tremendous amounts. I became concerned.

I have experienced and learned, many children with the disorder of autism do snack compulsively. Parent(s), caregiver(s), want to know how to control eating snacks, unhealthy foods and prevent this from happening.

I believe dealing and understanding how autistic children should avoid certain foods, can become an urgent request.

For example:
* Dietary and health restrictions
* Taking certain kinds of medications that may not mix with snacks and sweets.
* Could cause diabetes.
* Sometimes too much of one kind of snack, may cause hyper-active personality and behavior.
* Some snacks and sweets may cause drowsiness, and cause your child to become lethargic.

I have heard from parent(s), caregiver(s) express concern, that some children take snacks without permission to their bedroom, hide it, save it, without them being aware of it. If you are continually making attempts to decrease and prevent the behavior of your child, who is compulsively snacking, this can be stressful for your child and you.

One of the first steps you want to consider taking is, remove the temptations from your child who is snacking and is out of control.

This can be accomplished by taking all of the foods that your child loves to snack on, unhealthy foods,and foods high in calories. Remove them and do not allow those foods in your home, or classroom, it possible.

If your child has friends over, and they want to eat snacks, you would tell them politely you do not have any available. If your child goes to his or her friend's home and they want to eat snacks, you will be in control by bringing the snack your child will be eating, control the amount, the type of snack. Communicate this matter with the parent(s), caregiver(s) of your child who he or she will be visiting.

Introduce your child to new, healthy types of foods and snacks. Make it fun, be creative when you choose to replace unhealthy snacks and foods, when you want to control your child from snacking.

Do not punish your child, for eating unhealthy snacks and doing it compulsively. You want to build a healthy life style for you and your child to enjoy.

Do not make statements to your child, such as, "these snacks are bad for you and you will get fat by eating them", "you are going on a diet tomorrow", "since you had all of those cookies, you will never have one again". Making statements that are a negative approach to your child, may make sense to you, but your child may feel guilty, punished, inferior, low self-esteem, and may rebel, by eating and indulging in more snacks.

When you decide to take control of replacing unhealthy foods for healthy snacks, make time for your child to look forward to something special. Consider an activity that he or she loves, a special place to visit, or having a friend over to play games, etc. In addition, make it fun.

Make a treasure chest for the new healthy foods that will replace the unhealthy ones. Explain to your child on certain times of the day when your child wants a snack, he or she will pick from the assortment in the treasure chest, a new healthy snack. By taking this kind of action, you are in control and will observe positive results from compulsive eating, your child does with snacks.

Your Skin's Diet

There are many reasons we make the effort to watch our diets: weight management (taking the weight off or keeping it off), lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, or just simply to live healthy.

But we seldom hear people say they are trying to eat right to promote healthy skin.

We used to think that eating chocolate would cause skin break outs, but in recent years we have learned that eating dark chocolate is actually good for your skin. (Thank goodness) Dark chocolate contains anti-oxidants which help increase the natural UV protection that our skin creates.

Our Skin is Fine Clothing

Mark Twain once shared this bit of wisdom: "The finest clothing made is a person's skin, but, of course, society demands something more than this."

Most of us make the effort to take good care of our clothing so it will look nice when we wear it, and because it is an investment, we want it to last longer.

Shouldn't we think of our skin in the same way? We want it to look nice when we wear it (which is always) and we want it to last longer.

How our skin looks is important, but how healthy it is, is even more important. As our body's largest organ; its job is to protect our vital organs and help filter out the toxins that build up inside.

What to feed our skin

We can use all the great skin care products created, but if we fail to feed our skin properly, everything else is wasted.

· One of the most essential things we can do for our skin is keep it hydrated, which means drinking plenty of water, which helps it do its job of eliminating those things that could make us unhealthy. Coffee, tea or soda are sources of water, but aren't a substitute for the real thing.

· Eat whole grains, they are not only good sources of fiber, which help prevent acne causing inflammation, but also contain a large amount of anti-oxidants.

· Another great source of anti-oxidants is berries, especially blueberries, blackberries and strawberries which help our skin to look younger.

· Our skin needs good sources of Omega 3 fatty acids (good fat), which you can get from eating fish, especially the oily fish such as salmon, anchovies, mackerel or sardines. These fatty acids help keep the skin free of blemishes.

Walnuts, flax seed or canola oil are also good sources

· To aid your skin in its natural renewal process you need Vitamin A, which you can find in carrots.

· A good source of Vitamin E, to help keep your skin moisturized is almonds.

· If you need to sooth red, blotchy skin, avocados act as an anti-inflammatory.

Taking good care of your skin isn't just about beauty and vanity, it's about good health.