Learning to save lives!

They're all around you and watch over you, but you won't be aware of them unless you look closely at their office doors. There are 308 of them and they have all been given 12 hours of training with the CERN Fire Brigade. Who are they? Quite simply, those who could one day save your life at work, the CERN first-aiders.
First-aiders are recruited on a volunteer basis. "Training is in groups of 10 to 12 people and a lot of emphasis is placed on the practical to ensure that they remember the life-saving techniques we show them", explains Patrick Berlinghi, a CERN first-aid instructor from TIS Division. He is looking forward to the arrival of four new instructors, which will bring the total number to twelve (eleven firemen and one member of the Medical Service). "The new instructors were trained at CERN from 16 to 24 May by Marie-Christine Boucher Da Ros (a member of the Commission Pédagogie de l'Observatoire National Français du Secourisme, the education commission of France's national first-aid body). This intake will enable us to continue our regular courses and to hold more refresher courses to review the techniques that have been learnt".
In the last two years at CERN, 100 people have followed first-aid courses and 70 have followed refresher training. On completion of their initial training, new first-aiders are given a sticker for their office door to identify them in case of an emergency.
Broadly speaking, the procedure to follow in the event of an accident is as follows: locate the danger, make sure that no further accidents can occur, establish the victim's condition, alert the Fire Brigade (at CERN, call 74444), and only then start to administer first-aid.
At CERN, proof that you have followed first-aid training is not issued in the form of a diploma. First-aiders wishing to acquire such a diploma are required to follow an additional two hours of training at the Croix Blanche (White Cross) in Divonne-Les-Bains.