Girl's first aid helped save her younger brother

A 10-year-old schoolgirl who had learnt basic first aid at her local school helped save her younger brother after boiling cooking…

A 10-year-old schoolgirl who had learnt basic first aid at her local school helped save her younger brother after boiling cooking oil fell on him.

Doctors told their mother that her quick action helped save him from even worse burns after the scalding oil poured all over his legs and abdomen.

He was one of hundreds of children who are injured in accidents in the home every year but lucky for him his sister was paying attention in school.

The lessons Lisa Bogue learnt in the first aid class were put into action as she rushed 6-year-old Conor into the bathroom, put him in the bath and filled it with cold water to protect his already burnt skin from further damage.

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When he arrived at nearby Monaghan General Hospital the staff told her mother, Mairead, that she had done the most important thing to prevent the wounds from being deeper than they were.

As it was Conor suffered third degree burns and needed skin grafts.

He spent three weeks in Crumlin Children's Hospital and is still receiving medical care. Lisa attends Tydavnet National School outside Monaghan town and had to fight off her older brothers who thought she was doing the wrong thing.

"Our eldest Shane (19) and Martin (17) thought she was wrong but in fact she had been listening in class and it was lucky for my youngest child Conor that she was listening in class," said her proud mother.

To acknowledge her fast thinking and use of the skills she learnt in the one-day class given by specially trained emergency medical technicians with the ambulance service in the North Eastern Health Board, the ambulance crews presented her with a specially framed certificate and gift voucher.

"It was a very interesting class and we practiced CPR [cardio-pulmonary resuscitation] on dummies and were told that with burns to put the person straight into the bath, keep the bath cold and them bring them to the hospital," said a modest Lisa.

She said she got a fright when she saw what had happened to her younger brother but "I did what I had been told to do".