EDFSAT News

Things have started off quietly for EDSFAT, which is relatively thankful considering how busy we were up until December during 2007.

The first major event of the year was actually outside Sussex and took place in Buckinghamshire. The event was the “Southern 50 Challenge” which is a hike covering 30km, 50km or 50miles (80km) over a 24hour period, with participants from 14 (Explorers) upwards. EDSFAT were asked to provide First Aid cover for the finish. Treatments included mild exposure, strains and sprains and of course the obligatory blisters, some of the largest we had seen.

The temptation is to drain blisters but the correct policy, in accordance with the current First Aid manual and the NHS, is to leave alone and provide padding and protection to the area during the healing process as the body reabsorbs the fluid.The reasons are two fold: it prevents infection, and it retains the cushioning and protective fluid until the body has been able to repair itself!

That same weekend saw a number of EDSFAT members descend on Bushy Wood to undertake some of the never ending task of maintenance of equipment. The previous weekend also saw a number of EDSFAT members providing assistance at the Bushy Wood working weekend with members bringing some of the specialist trades required for some of the jobs.

The new April 2008 – March 2009 charging policy will hopefully be published with next month’s newsletter. The policy is changing to a standard charge system for different types of events, enabling event organisers to budget more easily for their events. More next month…..

www.edsfat.org.uk

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