Here’s another skill you can learn now, even if you aren’t on the homestead yet.

First Aid and CPR are necessary skills when you live in the middle of nowhere. It can take over an hour for the ambulance to get to us, we’ve timed it, then we have another hour to get to the hospital. That is time that we can’t waste. Not only are we familiar with basic First Aid and CPR we also have taken advanced classes in wilderness survival, wilderness first aid, and water safety.

You can do this too.

Take a course through a local in-person class if you’ve never done it before or if it has been a while. If you have been certified recently (in the last couple of years) you might be able to recertify online. If you have a chance to take an advanced or wilderness course, do it.

We renew our certifications online whenever they are due to ensure we are up-to-date on the newest techniques. These skills saved the life of our youngest son when he swallowed a quarter and had to be rushed by ambulance and then by helicopter to have it dislodged. If we hadn’t acted quickly it would have closed his air supply off completely.

We’ve treated a number of injuries from head wounds to pitchfork holes and are lucky to have most everything we need on hand in a very large first aid bag. However, we also recognize that there are some wounds that we cannot treat and our job is to stabilize as much as possible before getting the injured person to a professional.

Make sure you have a very good quality first-aid kit that is well-stocked and keep it well-stocked. If you can keep one in the vehicle you use the most and one in the house, that’s even better. We often take ours out on the property with us when we’re going to be out most of the day. Especially when felling trees, working on fences, or clearing land. We might not have time to send someone up to the house for the kit if something serious happens.

We also carry a radio and the house phone. If we are lucky, the house phone will still have enough range to make an emergency call. If not, we might be able to reach one another if something happens and we are working alone. Though generally, working alone is against the rules on our homestead, it has happened in the past when we were in a hurry to get something done and being reckless. Usually when renting equipment that needs to return by a specific deadline.

Speaking of projects, never rush a job, always allow yourself plenty of time. If you don’t you will ensure someone will get hurt, something will be damaged, or someone will be deeply disappointed.

If you aren’t already certified, what opportunities are available in your area?