Not waving...

I spent today on an aquatic 1st aid course at Bradford and Bingley Canoe Club delivered by Helen Underwood of Underwood Training.

As is typical, when outdoors people get together, there is a good deal of black humour around the subject of injury and death. Hopefully, however, if we are ever confronted with a situation where our 1st aid skills are called upon we will not be found wanting.

Much of the session focussed on the many ways one can drown. It's not simple. A number of factors come into play which influence the treatment and survivability of drowning casualties:

• Dry drowning
• Fresh water versus salt water drowning
• Secondary drowning
• Hypothermia and the role of the mammalian diving reflex

The lightness of spirit with which we discussed this made me think of Stevie Smith's poem "Not Waving but Drowning" which, on one level, is about how a fragile front of jolly bravery sometimes masks the more sombre facets of existence. Perhaps a degree of delusion helps us to swim boldly out into life's current, avoid its undertows and fulfil our potential.

Any road up. Get yourself on a first aid course. You never know when you might need to bring someone to shore. I highly recommend Helen and Underwood Training.