UNFORGIVABLE PRACTICAL SKILL NUMBER 5

The story I'm going to tell you is completely true. A friend of my family, who is the cousin of the protagonist of this singular event, told me this story a couple of years ago:

A young man fresh out of college, whom we will name Oscar, was striving to find a job, and since the company he was interested the most to work in was run by the father of one of his classmates, he decided to invite them to eat at a restaurant to be able to talk with this man, introduce himself, and try to cause a favorable impression.

To his surprise, the entrepeneur accepted the invitation and showed up at the restaurant with his son.

At the middle of the meal, with Oscar doing his best showing the best of his personality, someting totally unexpected happened: The entrepeneur suddenly opened his eyes big as soup bowls, put his hands around his neck and stood up making strange noises. When he got up this rare way, he pushed the plate and it fell on the ground, making all the people  turn to stare at them surprised. Oscar and his friend, the son of the entrepeneur, just as surprised as everyone else, looked at him without a hint of what was going on. But like a beam of inspiration, Oscar remembered a short class he had taken 3 months earlier (which he was about not to attend to, because he thought it would be boring), where they taught them the techinque to save the life of a person in different situations. Since the mind works so fast, Oscar was able to identify in seconds that the man was showing signals of choking, and faster than a ray he stood up, got behind him and did what is know as "the Heimlich maneuver". Seconds later, "something" was thrown off the mouth of the man like a projectile, (it happened to be a chicken bone), and after breathing deeply and looking at Oscar and his son, still gasping, he managed to say: "You're hi... hired!" : )

The  "unforgivable" (it is not "almost" unforgivable in this case) practical skill number 5 is to know how to do the Heimlich maneuver (including its application for yourself, pregnant women, babies and children, and pets) to know the CPR technique, to know how to stop bleedings, and know how to treat a burn. 

Of course, there are many first aid techniques, but the ones mentioned above are UNFORGIVABLE. Not knowing them and how to do them can cause a person to lose their life in front of you, and you would have been able t do someting to save them. When you learn these techinques, make sure that they teach you how to do them for kids and babies too. If you're married, learn these techniques with your wife. 

The missionaries of the Mexico Oaxaca Mission practicing in our recent first aid workshop.

There's nothing worse than feeling powerless in an emergency situation. And while you are not much likely to go through an experience like Oscar's, consider that knowing how to do these things... could even make you get the job of your dreams! : D