May 15th/16th - bannau brychieniog national park visitor centre REC L2 for 11 participantsThis REC L2 outdoor First Aid course by Bryn Walking was for The Outoor Partnership - feedback from their organising officer (Bethan Logan) can be seen at the end of this blog. The course was delivered by Helen Menhinick (ML) and Alan Ward (IML) and certificated by Rescue Emergency Care (REC), established in 1986 as one of the United Kingdom's original and most specialised Outdoor First Aid providers. Congratulations to the 11 participants who completed the course. Helen and Alan have, between them, delivered over 250 REC First Aid courses, mostly in the UK but as far afield as Nepal, Indonesia and Morocco. Alan holds the British Heart Foundation "Heart Hero" Award for delivering CPR training to Outdoor Education Centres in South Wales. course content & sTRUCTUREA two day course (16 hours). The outdoor first aid course is designed to introduce a systematic way of first aid for managing casualties. Topic learning and practicals intermixed with scenarios of real situations. The course includes:
EMERGENCY: vital signs (and monitoring) • emergency action • airway • unconscious • choking • bleeding • breathing and circulation • CPR • AED (automated external defibrillator) practical training ENVIRONMENT: heat stress • cold stress • hot injuries • cold injuries ILLNESS: chest pain • stroke • asthma • epilepsy • diabetes INJURY: head • spine • chest • abdomen • pelvis • bones • soft tissue • eye • shock • triage RESCUE: group shelters and blizzard bag products • transportation • communication To accommodate the RYA syllabus our Outdoor First Aid course will include understanding the differential for drowning, immersion and seasickness. The Candidates All candidates entering the REC scheme start with the Outdoor First Aid module The Qualification The Outdoor First Aid course is certified for three years and is an entry point for the REC scheme. It is the approved course for RYA, BCU, MLTB. gallerycourse feedbackBethan Logan of The Outdoor Partnership kindly provided feedback on behalf of the group: "It was really good, thank you so much! I really enjoyed it and you had great engagement from everyone, I thought you allowed everyone to input with their expertise which I think is what people want ultimately, but there’s not always room for it is there but somehow you managed to do that but also cover all the content, which is loads. I actually think this was my favourite first aid course I’ve done, and I might be on 5 now!Thanks so much." future courses by bryn walking- REC L5 Travel & Expedition First Aid: June 26th/27th
- REC L2 Outdoor First Aid: September 3rd/4th - NNAS Tutor Award: August 12th Please contact us for further details or to book a place on one of these courses.
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Bryn Walking SLATE TRAILS OF SNOWDONIA APRIL 2024A week of walking, adventure and education in Snowdonia, exploring areas of the old slate industry. The whole week went extremely well and was very enjoyable for everyone. The weather was in our favour and 5 days lay ahead of some very different walks, but with one common factor - mountains of slate! Our accommodation was Dol Peris - a self catering guest house, run by Lisa and Phill George, situated in Llanberis. It is ideal and has everything we need - it is very tastefully furnished, comfortable and welcoming. Monday Our rendezvous point was Cwm Idwal Visitors Centre for our lunch, introductions, briefing and a walk around Llyn Idwal. At the southern end of the lake we took the path that takes us up to 500m, near the base of Devil's Kitchen, before descending back down to the lake. It was a lovely introduction for everyone in the group. Tuesday - Bethesda to Llanberis Ready to go at 0900, we all boarded the Bryn Walking minibus and travelled to Bethesda for the start point of the walk. Everyone was very prompt and this is always much appreciated. Tracy met us at Dol Peris to join us for the Tuesday and Wednesday walks. A very interesting walk with a slight change to the route to avoid some very boggy ground. Richard had been shopping in Joe Browns and we had had 'word' from them via Richard that it was best avoided. I had already had some concerns about this part of the walk because of the recent wet weather, so that confirmed to me that a contingency had to come into play. Alan and I researched and agreed to follow the North Wales Pilgrims Way for part of the route, and we could detour up to a trig point on Moelyci (396m).
Wednesday - Dinorwig Quarries Again, thank you to everyone's prompt arrival at the Bryn Walking minibus ready for the short journey towards Nant Peris to the start point. We gained height quickly following a zig zag track up to Sinc Matilda. Although a scar on the landscape these quarries are magnificent for their enormity and feat of engineering. A very interesting route with QR codes all the way that were very informative - some I have quoted from historypoints.org, shown in italics. 'Altogether, there were over 30 slate galleries. Each gallery was named after a local landmark, notable event, place in the world, woman related to Dinorwig or local character. The local characters were often former quarry workers from the 1820s to 1840s. Examples include Edward Jones, Robin Rabar and Robin Dre.' 'Matilda area of the quarry was named after the wife of quarry owner Thomas Assheton Smith. Work began here on their wedding day, 17 October 1827.' 'The quarry ran on a bargen system. A bargen was a piece of rock six metres square. Bargen teams worked on the galleries and were often made up of men from the same families. The teams worked independently and negotiated prices with the stewards. The quarry stewards offered a sum for what was classed as good rock and less money for rubble. The rock was carefully measured to calculate how many sections of slate could be split from that bargen. The wages of each team depended on this ‘bargening’. There was a spirit of comradeship amongst the quarry workers and they would help one another. On the galleries and in the mills, quarrymen would help other workers who had not met their targets.' 'The pinnacle is formed of dolerite, a hard volcanic rock – see footnotes for details. Slate quarrymen excavated the surrounding ground, exposing increasingly high cliffs. The Ceiliog was a hazardous obstruction between the Wellington and Victoria areas of the quarry. The quarry’s specialist abseilers inspected it regularly for signs of loose rock. Rockfalls were the biggest cause of death in Dinorwig quarry.' For our evening entertainment we drove to Betwys y Coed where Alan Ward gave a very interesting talk, after which we visited the Rohan shop. Thursday - Snowdon (1085m) We caught the 0834 S2 bus from opposite Joe Browns in Llanberis up to Pan y Pass at a cost of £3 each. We met Andrea outside Dol Peris who was joining us for the day. After I briefed the group we set off up the PYG track. The route is straight forward but never lets you forget that you are climbing a mountain as sometimes the path becomes slabs of bedrock or a jagged bit to negotiate over. The top was in cloud as we approached and the air dropped in temperature, soon flutters of snow were in the air. At the top the rocks were covered with icy wind-shaped patterns. There weren't many people about and this made getting to the trig fairly easy with no long waits and getting cold. It wasn't very windy at all so I had no worries about the group being on the trig either. Keeping the group together on leaving the top was imperative in the thick fog as the Llanberis Path can easily be missed if the ground isn't familiar to group members. Everyone managed the 804m of ascent very well and we were all elated on reaching the top. Well done everyone. Choosing the Llanberis Path for our return meant we had a whole new vista which I always enjoy. The Bryn Walking BBQ Well, it has to happen on our events. We can't control the weather and this time it wasn't typical of a BW event (the sun shone!!) but we can control the BBQ, especially with Alan as our BBQ chef. Friday - The Hidden Lake Some of the group had chosen to join me on the optional last walk of the week which was near Blaenau Ffestiniog. Again following the slate theme, I had planned and recced a route as a finale - the weather was on my side and gave us a 360 degree view from the 524m spot height at the top of Moel Dyrnogydd. The route took us on an old mining track, typically neatly built up to make it level. There is an air vent for the railway at the end of the track and from there we go up and over to the hidden lake. As it was such brilliant weather and low air pollution, we climbed right up to the spot height for fantastic views. Thank you to everyone who came; Richard, Eliz, Anabel, Sian and Lou, including the day walkers too, Tracy and Andrea. All very good company, strong and dynamic, and took part in the walks with interest and ease. Thank you to Alan Ward who is very much part of the planning, recce'ing and management, chief BBQ man and always brings his GSOH. 'til next time
bryn walking rec outdoor first aid course 16HRS: April 4th/5th 2024 |
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