A nanny puts her first aid training to use

ABU DHABI // Anna Rose always dreamed of becoming a nurse, but the 23-year-old Filipina housemaid and nanny never got the opportunity. Instead, she came to Abu Dhabi three years ago to work in the household of Dr Taisser Atrak and his wife, Amani.

Two years ago, Anna took part in a first aid and CPR certification course taught by Dr Atrak at Mafraq Hospital, together with a few other Abu Dhabi nannies.

"The programme was very helpful to me and I learned a lot," she said.

"I think it is very important for anyone taking care of children or working with them to know this kind of information, because accidents with kids can always happen."

In fact, Ms Rose found herself in three different situations where an unexpected accident demanded she use her first aid skills.

In Lebanon with her employers, Ms Rose saw a man hit by a car while crossing the street.

"People gathered but they were all panicking," she said. "No one knew what to do.

"The first thing we learned in CPR was to always remain calm, because if you panic, you cannot think."

Ms Rose knew enough to calm the man, put pressure on his bleeding head and check his limbs for breaks.

Another time, at a Japanese restaurant in the capital, Ms Rose saw a three-year-old Indian girl place one of the tiny, coloured pebbles used in the restaurant's interior decoration in her mouth.

"The little girl started choking. I put my hand in her mouth to try to take it out but I could not. A back slap pushed the stone out, thank God," Ms Rose said.

Five-year-old Ryan, Ms Rose's young charge and Dr Atrak's youngest son, also benefited from the nanny's training. She managed to clean and bandage a cut on his forehead - an accident that occurred during play - after putting pressure on the wound for five to 10 minutes, as she was taught.

She did not know these basic methods to treat wounds, react to falls and avoid suffocation before attending the course.

"I was able to put my training to good use and feel a lot more confident as well," she said.

hkhalaf@thenational.ae