BHUBANESWAR: The transport department is planning to dole out monetary incentives and gifts to autorickshaw drivers here to attract them to a first-aid training centre, which was opened last year to provide them cab licence.
“To get a cab licence, the drivers need to be trained on basic first-aid techniques. Subsequently, the drivers will get first-aid training certificates. We will issue cab licences to them after that,” said regional transport officer (II) Sanjay Kumar Behera.
Though the motor vehicle rules say a commercial auto driver must possess a cab licence to transport passengers, almost all auto drivers, including those driving ‘pink autos’ and prepaid ones launched by the police here, do not possess cab licences.
“First-aid training by St John Ambulance is a must to get cab licence. Though we sensitized auto drivers about the cab licence and opened the first-aid training centre at Chandrasekharpur, not many drivers came forward. We are planning give incentives or small mementos to attract them,” said Behera.
In May, an awareness campaign was launched among auto drivers. However, it yielded little result as only 700 auto drivers attended the first-aid training programme. More than 30,000 autos ply in the city. At present, the auto drivers possess driving licences, which enables them driving for personal use only. “We conduct raids on autorickshaws. But we are unable to crack down on them regularly due to shortage of staff,” said regional transport officer (I) Lalmohan Sethy.
The transport department is also toying with the idea to give discount to auto drivers to get cab licence. Now, each driver needs to pay Rs 700 for the first-aid training and Rs 340 for cab licence. “We will prevent interference of brokers, who fleece drivers, and touts, who might resort to forgery to obtain first-aid certificates for drivers,” Behera said.
A recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) came down heavily on the state transport department for not ensuring the safety of students and passengers, who regularly travel in unfit autorickshaws in different cities, including Bhubaneswar.
“During audit in five regional transport offices (RTOs), it was found that fitness certificates of 10,541 autorickshaws had lapsed between April 2008 and March 2013,” the report said. “Though the RTOs collected taxes from these vehicles, they failed to ensure renewal of fitness either by vehicle owners or by the RTOs,” the report said.
In June 2011, the Union ministry of road transport and highways had instructed all states to ensure mandatory renewal of fitness certificates of vehicles.
Great to see this attempt in a country were there are so many people. Hopefully they can get this under control and have more drivers first aid trained. Other countries like Australia should also be looking at getting cab drivers, bus drivers, uber drivers and any other public transport workers trained in first aid. If there are any business’s out there looking for first aid training then now is the time to get it organised for 2016. Book in to a first aid course in Canberra asap and receive your free first aid manual and cpr keyring facemask.
A TEENAGER who had only just finished a first aid course potentially saved the life of a woman at a Cairns nightclub – with the help of a five cent coin.
Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators (AMPTO) crown-of-thorns eradication program trainee Sophia Horler was partying at Gilligan’s nightclub on Grafton St on Saturday about 10pm.
When the 18-year-old went to the toilets, a group of women was standing outside a locked stall where another woman had passed out.
“You could see her feet poking out the end of the stall,’’ Ms Horler said.
“I asked how long she’d been in there, and apparently it had been a while, so I thought I’d better get her out.”
The plucky teen, who had only just completed her first aid course through AMPTO the previous day, managed to unlock the door using a five cent coin.
“I just looked at the handle and realised I needed something small,’’ she said.
“I usually carry my keys around with me, but didn’t have them, so tried a 20 cent coin and found it was too big, so tried again with a five cent coin.”
Once the door was open, the woman, in her early 20s, was found to have a mouthful of vomit and was semi-conscious on the floor.
Ms Horler relied upon her fresh training to clear the woman’s airway and roll her into a recovery position.
“Once I did that, she started stirring a little bit,’’ she said.
“We went and got one of the Gilligan’s workers and they called an ambulance.
“They came and got a wheelchair and congratulated me for doing a good job.”
Paramedics say the woman was at real risk of choking.
Ms Horler said she acted because no one else seemed to be helping the woman.
Ms Horler is one of 30 trainees in the COTS eradication program, created by AMPTO with funding from the State Government’s Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative. Crown-of-thorns (COTS) targeted control program project manager Steve Moon said those involved with the program were no strangers to helping out in emergencies.
A COTS crew helped save the life of a young Gordonvale man who was found clinging to a navigation buoy 30km off Cairns in September and trainees also assisted with a near-drowning incident on-board a local dive vessel.
“I’ve just really proud of the fact that trainees have taken their training seriously and applied it in a real-life situation,’’ he said.
Great fast thinking from this first aid student. We hope that our students who complete first aid courses in Canberra with Canberra First Aid are as fast thinking and helpful when they come across casualties in need. Book in now to one of our first aid courses in Canberra and receive 5% off the advertised price.
If one of your workmates cuts their finger, has an epileptic fit or vomits you would expect a first aider and a first aid kit to be on hand to cope with the situation, but what do you do if one of your colleagues was experiencing psychosis or a breakdown?
Sandy Scheib teaches mental health first aid at the Northern Institute and she argues that every employer should have at least one mental health first aider on site and preferable one in each section or department.
Mental Health First Aid Australia, which accredits the courses, already works with various government departments and agencies, including the Australian Department of Defence and the Personnel Administration Centre in Melbourne and many schools.
Awareness of mental illness and the impact it can have on workers, colleagues and organisations is growing in Australia and the scale of the problem is serious, says Ms Scheib.
A 2007 Australian Bureau of Statistics’ study, National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, estimated that in any one year, around one million adults in Australia experience depression and over two million experience anxiety.
Poor mental can translate into three to four days off work a month for a person each person experiencing depression and over six million working days lost each year in Australia.
Mental health problems also have a direct impact on workplaces through increased absenteeism, reduced productivity and increased costs.
The two-day Mental Health First Aider (MHFA) course teaches people how to identify common mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and substance abuse at work.
It also aims to give people the confidence to provide immediate help, cope with a crisis situation such as panic attacks, self-harm and suicidal thoughts, and suggest where to get professional help.
Ms Scheib says what people find most daunting when they saw a colleague struggling mentally was knowing how to approach them – and whether to do this in the first place.
“Whenever I speak with people who we are training, their problem always is one, they don’t know how to recognise the signs and symptoms of mental illness and the other problem is, if it’s really obvious there is an issue they’re concerned about, what is appropriate action to offer assistance,” she says.
“The course provides people with the skills, knowledge and confidence to offer the help.”
The MHFA courses provide a mental health action plan using the acronym ALGEE, which stands for:
Approach, assess and assist with a crisis; Listen non-judgementally; Give support and information; Encourage appropriate professional help and Encourage other supports.
Ms Scheib says an important part of the course is to teach people how to respond when a colleague is in crisis, for example, talking about killing themselves or experiencing psychosis.
“It really is about expressing concern for that person, listening to them talking through things and facilitating some professional help.”
She says MHFA on its most serious level is about suicide prevention and she had a great deal of feedback on how positive the course had been in.
“People feel confident and able to approach someone that they feel concerned about, to check in with someone and see what’s happening for them and if, they’re in crisis, to be able to broach those serious subjects, People can do that both in their personal and professional lives.”
The course also aims to further reduce stigma around mental health and promote greater knowledge and early intervention.
“When we ask people, ‘if you had symptoms of depression, would you tell your manager?’ The answer is always, ‘no’,” Ms Scheib says.
“Mental illness is a treatable and diagnosable condition.”
A VicHealth and Melbourne University study found that job-related depression costs the economy $730 million every year. This includes lost productivity due to absenteeism and presenteeism and government-subsidised medical care, including counselling and antidepressants.
Doing a first aid course in Canberra is just the beginning. We cant believe its not compulsory in schools! We cant believe its not compulsory for new parents! But we hope that in the future first aid training is. In regards to mental first aid course in Canberra… well for the future this is also a positive step. Maybe we will look into this style training also.
When was the last time you took a first aid class? The ’80s? ’90s? Like everything in the medical field, first aid is constantly evolving, and what you may have learned to do as a first responder 10 years ago could be completely wrong today. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest changes over the last few years.
To help sort through all this medical knowledge, we talked with Jordan Ourada, EMS Liaison at HealthONE, who walked us through the most common procedures right now. He was also quick to point out that the research is constantly evolving, so if you’re in a position that demands it, keeping up with your first aid training is a must. Oddly, some of these standards have gone in and out of vogue over the years, so depending on when you learned basic first aid, some of your knowledge may still be up to date.
CPR Has Changed Completely
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was first introduced in 1960. Back then, the typical procedure was known as the ABCs: airway, breathing, chest compressions. You started with opening the airway to try and resuscitate the victim by giving them quick breaths through the mouth, then moved onto pumping on the chest to get the heart beating again. Depending on when you learned CPR, you may have also learned to put pressure on the patient’s windpipe to decrease the amount of air that entered the stomach. Back in 2010, this procedure completely changed.
Now, the recommended method is CAB: chest compressions, airway, breathing. One cycle of CPR includes 30 compressions, followed by two rescue breaths lasting about one second. The order changed because researchers found that the chest compressions are the most important part, and in a lot cases, the breaths are unnecessary. This type of CPR is best for drowning victims and people who collapse with breathing problems.
In fact, a “hands only CPR” or “compression only CPR” is now recommended for most emergencies we come across as bystanders (unless it’s a drowning victim or people who collapse with breathing problems. Regular CPR is still best in those cases). Ourada points out that in some cases, the breathing can actually do more harm than good and compression only CPR is recommended:
The American Heart Association is constantly studying and reviewing the most effective way to save a life in out of hospital cardiac arrest. While in the past it was common practice to do mouth to mouth resuscitation, it has been found that not only does that not help, it can make things worse by filling the belly with air making it more difficult to do effective chest compressions. It also increases the likelihood of the patient vomiting in your face which — let’s face it — is gross in addition to being hazardous to the health of rescuers. It is now recommended that the most effective way to resuscitate someone in cardiac arrest is consistent, deep and fast chest compressions without interruption.
Which is all to say, if you cannot give breaths, you should simply continue chest compressions at a rate of around 100 per minute (which is about the same as the song “Staying Alive”, as you may have heard) until help arrives or the person shows obvious signs of life-like breathing. It’s also worth noting that since CPR research is constantly evolving, it’s recommended that you take a CPR course every two to three years to keep up to date.
Applying Tourniquets Is Useful (Again)
Depending on when you took a first aid class, you either learned to apply tourniquets above bleeding wounds or learned expressly not to ever use one. Likewise, if you’ve ever watched any action movie ever, you just assume a tourniquet is appropriate for just about any kind of injury. However, studies publishedin the likes of the Journal of Trauma and this one in the Journal of Special Operations Medicine show the rate of complications is pretty low. Ourada explains:
Tourniquets were popular many years ago, then went out of vogue for a long time due to the risk of limb damage and compartment syndrome. In the last few years however, after extensive use and study by the military in the wars in the Middle East, tourniquets are back in a big way and have been found to be the most beneficial way to stop serious arterial (squirting) bleeding in limbs. You do want to be aware of how long it is on the limb as it does cause damage, but that takes a long time and ideally the injured person is on their way to a trauma center in that time.
So, when should you use a tourniquet? They’re best used to limit severe external bleeding on limbs. Before you apply a tourniquet, you should attempt to control open bleeding by applying direct pressure to the bleeding site until it stops. If it doesn’t slow down within about 15 minutes, then it’s time to use a tourniquet (and no, you don’t need to elevate the limb, that was also debunked). To properly apply a tourniquet, place it two to four inches away from the wound site, between the wound and the trunk of the body. Then, tighten it in a knot around the limb until the bleeding stops. Many first aid kids have tourniquets you can use that make the process a lot easier.
While tourniquets are back in vogue, it’s still only recommended you use them with proper training, so if you missed that in your first aid class, it’s worth heading back.
Don’t Induce Vomiting Without Calling The Poisons Information Centre
If you took a first aid class prior to 2010, there’s a reasonable chance you learned to induce vomiting when someone ingests a foreign, possibly toxic substance. It was so popular that people were told to keep ipecac around in the house just in case. It turns out this is a terrible idea.
The reasoning is pretty simple. In most cases, common treatments for when someone ingests toxic substances, (treatments like milk, activated charcoal, and ipecac), are unhelpful, and in some cases, harmful. Ourada says that depending on what the victim swallowed, inducing vomiting can do more harm coming back up than it did going down, so it’s always best to refer to the experts instead of going with some universal treatment plan.
Regardless of whether a first aid teacher may have told you, you should always call Poisons Information Hotline (13 11 26) before doing anything at all.
Don’t Store Bare Severed Digits In Ice
When you lose a digit, say a finger or toe, the old advice said your best bet to get it reattached was to put the digit on ice and make your way to the hospital as soon as possible. While that’s partially true, and makes for a great scene in a movie, it’s not the whole story. Putting it directly on ice is a bad idea.
When you place an amputated digit directly on ice, you risk damaging it. Ourada explains:
Do not throw the digit straight on the rocks because that can freeze and damage the skin and vessels. It’s best to wrap the amputated part in cloth or paper towels and then put in a cooler or a cup of ice to keep it cool. Avoid direct ice contact and avoid placing it in liquid and water logging it. Get to a trauma center as soon as possible.
Once you get to a trauma center, they can reattach the digit provided it’s still in good shape. If things go well, the victim will regain use of it completely.
Similarly, if someone loses a tooth, the previous recommendation was to simply get to a dentist as soon as possible with the tooth in hand. Now, it’s recommended you store the tooth in Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution, propolis, egg white, coconut water, Ricetral, or whole milk. If none of these are available, you can also store the tooth in the victim’s own saliva until they can get to a dentist.
Never Put Something In a Seizure Victim’s Mouth
You may have heard that when you witness someone having a seizure, you should place an object between their teeth for them to bite down on so they don’t swallow or bite off their tongue. If your first aid knowledge is really old, you maybe also learned to restrain the victim. Both of these are incredibly wrong. Sticking something in a seizure victim’s mouth can cause them to choke, and restraining them can lead to broken bones or other injuries.
Seizures are tough to watch, because you can’t really do anything. The best you can do is clear the area and try to make the victim as comfortable as possible. Ourada’s suggestions are pretty simple:
Old wisdom says to place something in the victim’s mouth, like a wooden spoon, to keep them from biting their tongue. This is not recommended as you can do damage by trying to force something into their mouth, and it also creates a choking hazard. The best thing to do if you see someone seizing is to help lower them to the ground if they are not already there and try to put something soft under their head so they don’t strike their head on the ground while seizing.
Beyond that, the CDC adds that while your first reaction might be to offer water to a victim as soon as they stop seizing, you should always wait until they’re full alert before doing so.
Make sure you book into a first aid course in Canberra so that you can keep up to date on the right information and guidelines for first aid in Australia.
FOR medical professionals throughout Australia, it is a familiar scene. A patient goes into cardiac arrest and is then brought back to life using CPR — but this can sometimes be when the real trouble begins.
Broken bones and bruising is common but there is another much more serious side-effect from cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) that is rarely talked about.
“What I would worry about a great deal more is brain damage. The brain doesn’t get blood to do it and a significant number of people who arrest come out with significant brain damage and that scares people much more,” Dr Charlie Corke told news.com.au.
Dr Corke, who will speak on tonight’s Insight special “Is it always right to resuscitate?” at 8.30 on SBS, said it was crucial people thought about what they wanted to happen if they ever went into cardiac arrest.
“The issue we’re trying to talk about is CPR ranges from something very simple, that you collapse, get a shock [and] the machines are there, and the outcome is a good thing. It’s a valuable, fantastic thing.”
But at the other end of the spectrum, when people became older and more frail, the outcomes were not always what people anticipated.
“We don’t tend to see those on TV — people either die or wake up. There was a study done that found about 75 per cent of people survive, which is ridiculous.”
In fact, the survival rate after CPR was as little as 15 per cent, for people in hospital and in the community.
Dr Charlie Corke says the aftermath of CPR is not easily understood by most people.Source:Supplied
“The outcomes can be terrible and with much lower survival rates than you see on television,” Dr Corke said.
“People who are clearly very ill and deteriorating and struggling then have a medical crisis … Without permission not to resuscitate, we’ll ramp up medical care to try and save them, and often we can, but they end up a lot worse than when the deterioration started.”
It was not uncommon for the revived patients to be taken from the “intensive care unit to a nursing home”, he said.
“It’s not the happy ending you see on TV,” Dr Corke said.
Despite horror stories and the high number of “bad outcomes”, there could be good results, which complicated the issue for both medical staff and patients.
“You could end up in a very bad way. It just comes down to how much people are prepared to risk,” Dr Corke said.
It was at this point that many people realised the magnitude of what had happened and of the ongoing consequences.
Insight’s special investigation by Jenny Brockie explores these issues and debates whether the benefits outweigh the risks, while Dr Corke and other experts discuss what people need to talk about with their loved ones. Before it’s too late.
Insight host Jenny Brockie will examine the issue of whether people should be resuscitated or not.Source:Supplied
Dr Corke himself has a care plan that outlines what he wants to have happen if he needs to be revived. For him, it all depends on the situation.
The younger the patient is, and how quickly they can access a defibrillator is what’s crucial to survival. For those people, CPR can have a happy ending — but what he hopes people take away from the Insight special is to start thinking about the issue.
For a lot of people, the thought of being in a worse place medically than before the CPR was a frightening thought.
“If people started thinking about it clearly their answer wouldn’t be ‘yes, yes’ under all circumstances. Very few people would come up with that answer to question,” Dr Corke said.
Insight screens tonight at 8.30 on SBS1.
Yes, indeed the scary side of CPR. But none the less having the skills to bring someone back to life is great. Get into one of Canberra First Aid and Training’s first aid courses in Canberra as soon as you can.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Grand Rapids Public Schools Board of Education is expected to approve a donation of 10 automated defibrillators Monday night for Ottawa Hills High School’s CPR and AED pilot program.
“Having more staff & students that are trained in CPR & AED in the district leads to a safer learning environment and community,” Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal said in a statement on Monday.
GRPS already trains more than 500 staff members each year in CPR and AED procedures to follow the district’s Medical Emergency Response Team policy.
The school board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the GRPS Franklin Campus Auditorium.
Canberra First Aid would love to be in a position to donate AED’s we have sold some and hope to sell more in the future as they are an extremely valuable purchase for any business. In the meantime we need to have more first aid courses in Canberra and train as many people as possible. We look forward to seeing you in a first aid course in Canberra sometime soon.
ST JOHN Ambulance has lost the right to provide emergency medical assistance at the MCG after almost a century of voluntary service.
The Melbourne Cricket Club moved to a commercial contract for emergency health services in 2011. St John, which has helped thousands of partons at the ground since 1922, was awarded the first contract and continued to provide first aid staff until the agreement lapsed this month.
The MCC has since told St John, which provides up to 90 staff at each event depending on requirements, its services are no longer required after another tenderer, Event Aid, was chosen for the contract.
It is unclear if St John’s bid for a new three-year contract was beaten by a cheaper offer — which reaches a “six-figure sum” — but the MCC has defended its decision saying it was based on a range of factors, including what it said were the superior resources of Event Aid.
St John chief executive Stephen Horton, in a written message to staff, described the decision as a “huge loss” and expressed “disappointment” at losing the MCG contract “at this iconic venue after such distinguished service by our volunteers for so long”.
“This is a huge loss to our organisation after 93 years of service and I know that like me you will be very disappointed with this development,” Mr Horton told volunteers.
Its very disappointing when customers are lost. At first aid course in Canberra we pride ourselves on building great relationships with our customers so they get a flexible, tailored service to there needs however sometimes this isn’t enough. You can give discounts, great service and exceptional training and still sometimes people think the grass is greener.
Book in with us today to a first aid course in Canberra and see what you think about us.
A Fremantle woman bitten by a tiger snake has suffered a rare delayed reaction after not being given anti-venom by hospital staff following the bite.
Fremantle resident Jorji Harper, a teacher’s aide at the Department of Education and Training, was bitten on the leg at Yellagonga Regional Park in Kingsley last month.
St John Ambulance transported the woman, in her 20s, to Joondalup Health Campus from the park on October 1.
She was treated at the hospital, but not with anti-venom, as this was not customary in that clinical situation.
But after she was released the following day she began to suffer from debilitating side effects, she told ABC online.
Her ankle became swollen, her pain worsened, her kidneys were affected and she lost muscle mass. She was unable to work or study and has been in and out of Fiona Stanley Hospital.
“I wasn’t able to get out of bed myself or lift my head up or move my arms above a certain height,” she told ABC Online.
Joondalup Health Campus said a patient admitted with snake bite last month had received treatment according to hospital protocol.
ABC Online reported that Ms Harper is still undergoing tests and has agreed to be used as a case study.
The dangerously venomous tiger snake is common in vegetation around wetlands, but can also be found well away from water, according to the Department of Parks and Wildlife website.
They are seen throughout the year sunning themselves in open areas and are also active at night when the weather is warm.
Find out the amazing way in which to save a persons life who has been bitten by a snake. Come to a first aid course in Canberra and learn this and many more first aid strategies so that you can act when first on scene. Do it now apply to a first aid course in Canberra with Canberra First Aid.
You’ve seen it referred to many times in these columns. Rice is not just a dietary starch staple, but an acronym that stands for rest, ice, compression and elevation — a first line of defense for any soft tissue injury (sprains, strains, contusions and pulled muscles), dislocations and some fractures.
Early treatment with RICE — as soon as possible after the injury — relieves pain and swelling, and promotes healing and flexibility to return our young athletes to the games they love. Fractures, sprains and strains need to be immobilized and dislocations reduced or put back into the joint, but RICE helps minimize swelling regardless of the injury.
Our athletic trainers are well-schooled in the application of RICE during games and practice, but RICE is a therapy that should be continued at home to maximize its effectiveness.
Let’s break down each of its four components to show how they should be used and why they are beneficial.
REST — it only makes sense to rest the injured muscle, tendon, ligament or other tissue to protect it from further injury, and speed healing. We often see our trainers helping an injured player off the field to avoid putting weight on the injured body part. Sometimes, we may need crutches to keep weight off the leg, knee, foot or ankle. An injury to the hand, wrist, elbow or arm may require a cast or splint to immobilize the injury, making sure it is adequately rested.
ICE — Sudden exposure to cold reduces blood flow to the injured area by contracting the blood vessels and capillaries. Blood collecting around the injury lengthens the time it takes for the injury to heal. Constricting the blood vessels limits the accumulation of fluid around the injury site to reduce swelling and provide short-term pain relief.
Ice can safely be applied by wrapping cubes in a towel or using an ice pack. Even a bag of frozen vegetables will get the job done. For injuries to small areas such as the finger or toe, you can soak them in a bucket of ice water. We do not recommend applying ice directly to the skin. Ice should be applied to the injury for 15-20 minutes at least three times a day. Allow the skin to warm before you reapply.
COMPRESSION — Light pressure from an elastic wrap, such as an ACE bandage, prevents blood and other fluids from accumulating at the injury, which retards healing and fails to decrease swelling. If the bandage is wrapped too tightly, swelling can increase. Increased pain and throbbing are indications that the compression needs to be rewrapped more loosely.
ELEVATION — Make gravity work for you. Elevation of the injured area at or above heart level pulls fluid away from the damaged site to control swelling and enhance healing. In some cases, the injured body area can be elevated by propping it on a pillow.
RICE is considered first aid treatment although the therapy probably will continue after you see your physician. Some soft tissue injuries take weeks to heal. Once the pain and soreness goes away and the swelling subsides, you’ll most likely need physical therapy to strengthen and stretch the damaged tissue, and regain flexibility.
Non-steroidal anti=-inflammatory medications (NSAIDS), such as Advil, Motrin and Aleve, may also help reduce pain and swelling, but we do not recommend aspirin to our young athletes because it raises the risk of Reye’s syndrome, a rare but deadly disease that causes swelling of the brain and liver.
If you hurt after playing or practice use RICE to minimize the pain and seek medical attention as necessary to be back in the game.
Dr. Sergio Ulloa, DO, is an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine with OhioHealth Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. He also serves as a team physician for the Ohio University athletic department. You can send him an email at [email protected].
In a first aid course in Canberra with Canberra First Aid we will explain soft tissue injuries and the differences between these and broken bones. We will also teach you how to treat sprains in a first aid course in Canberra.
Meagan Hurley | Opelika-Auburn News | Twitter | Posted: Sunday, October 25, 2015 5:30 am
OHS entrepreneur Taylor Rosenthal
Opelika High School freshman Taylor Rosenthal has been invited to be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
The average high school freshman probably has many things on his mind, from games to grades, girls and so on, but not many 14-year-olds can claim to run a potential multimillion-dollar company. That’s not the case for Opelika’s Taylor Rosenthal.
As an eighth-grader at Opelika Middle School, Rosenthal coined the idea for first aid vending machines in his Young Entrepreneurs Academy class sponsored by the Opelika Chamber of Commerce. Fast-forward a few months and Rosenthal, now a freshman at Opelika High School, serves as founder and C.E.O. of RecMed, a first-aid vending machine company that was officially granted its patent Tuesday.
“I make something called the RecMed vending machine. It’s a computerized vending machine that functions similarly to a Redbox machine but instead of it dispensing DVDs, it dispenses first aid supplies. So we put these at any high traffic places that kids could get hurt, so like amusement parks, all kinds of parks, recreational centers, conventions, football stadiums, baseball fields, everywhere,” he said.
An athlete himself, Rosenthal said his business was inspired by his parents, who both work in the medical field. But the idea of employing a vending machine to dispense the first-aid supplies didn’t arrive until later.
“It originally started out as a pop up shop for first-aid kits, where we would go and sit out at sporting events to sell first-aid kits. So instead of a mom having to go to a Wal-Mart or a CVS to get first aid supplies when their kid gets hurt at a sporting event, we’d be sitting out there and it would be fast, easy access,” he said. “We noticed how much it would cost to pay somebody minimum wage to sit out at a sporting event for six hours, and we were trying to find a way that we could get the first aid supplies out there but not really have to pay somebody, so we kind of thought vending machines.”
For the past several months, Rosenthal has spent his free time building the foundation for RecMed at Opelika’s Round House, an incubator for start-up businesses. Now that RecMed has received its patent, Rosenthal said investors are ready to close, paving the way for prototype construction.
“We’re talking about closing in on investors in the next week or two, which we would then give some of that money to our team from Auburn University to actually produce the prototype,” he said.
A pending order has already been placed. RecMed is working on a schedule for March 1, which is when Six Flags would like to explore the contraption by. If everything goes as planned, Rosenthal said they’ll be purchasing the first 100 units. For how much, Rosenthal said he doesn’t yet know, but he expects the machine — and the overall business – to garner a high value.
Recently, Rosenthal turned down one major corporation’s $30 million offer to buy his idea. Why? He said he feels it could be worth more in the future.
“A large national healthcare company contacted us and said we feel the idea is worth this, would you like to sit down and talk? It’s his company. He declined because he wants to at least get it started and see how it goes,” said Rosenthal’s father, Terry.
What would a 14-year-old do with that kind of money? Rosenthal said he’d spend it on college tuition at Notre Dame, where he’d hopes to one day study business or medicine.
Those who know him don’t doubt his ability to do whatever he sets his mind to.
“Taylor was an awesome student. He was one of those students who will ask you any and every question that needs to be asked. He doesn’t care how many times he asks you, as long as he gets the answer. He will use that information to do what he needs to do. He is extremely focused,” said former teacher Carinda Jones. “For him to ask to be in the class, to go from just a year ago, sitting at that computer over there to what he is doing now is just absolutely amazing. He’s my poster child.”
Round House founder and Rosenthal’s business mentor Kyle Sandler said Rosenthal’s drive is exceptional.
“We had to kick him out of here on Christmas Eve to spend time with his family, and you best believe that every minute of fall break he was here at the Round House. When he’s not in school or playing baseball, he’s here working on anything from customer discovery to lead generation to where he can put his product.”
Rosenthal was also recently recognized by Inc., a national business magazine, as one of “20 Teenage Entrepreneurs Set for Success.”
Rosenthal said all the attention and recognition he’s received “feels awesome,” but for now the young entrepreneur plans to keep focused on growing his business, excelling in school and playing baseball.
30 million!!! wow. Pretty amazing stuff in the first aid world. Hopefully first aid course in Canberra will be able to see the introduction of these to Australia in the coming years. In the mean time what a great reminder that taking part in a first aid course in Canberra is a wonderful idea.
