It was the death of Alby Davis that spurred Kirsty Evans into action.
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Three-year-old Alby, from Wynyard in Tasmania, died at the start of March after he choked on a rubber bouncy ball not much larger than a 50-cent coin.
His mother, who was only metres away at the time, was unable to clear his airway and despite 16 minutes of CPR, couldn’t save him.
Mrs Evans, who lives in Orange, was shocked by the death.
She realised despite keeping up with first aid training in her job she might not have known what to do if her 16-month-old baby Sonny was in a similar situation.
“I was thinking ‘what would I do’, I don’t have enough knowledge in that situation, I really need to educate myself,” she said.
“I sat down with my husband and we spoke about updating our first aid for children but found nothing in the region which focused on children and babies.”
On Facebook and in passing, she noticed several of her friends having the same thoughts.
“There were videos and Facebook Live notifications popping up and I registered to listen and saw a lot of my friends were liking and watching the same things,” Mrs Evans said.
So she got in contact with CPR Kids – a Sydney-based organisation which runs sessions focused on emergency medical procedures for children – to find if there were any planned in the Central West.
When she found none, CPR Kids said they would look into bringing their expert trainers to Orange if Mrs Evans could organise 40 people interested in taking part.
She currently has 32, and expects to hit the target number by April 2, with two sessions pencilled in for April 16 and another on April 17.
The venue is yet to be confirmed.
Mrs Evans said there had been great support in the community for training, with some of her friends banding together to help organise, and businesses such as Reform Exercise and Physiotherapy, midwifery consultants MILC and Lan Snowden at Ray White among those spreading the word.
The course will cover CPR and choking, as well as household burns, head injuries, seizures and the first course of action when dealing with emergencies involving infants and children.
Tickets are $99 and for those looking to get involved, bookings can be made at www.cprkids.com.au or by calling 1300 542 727.