One of the biggest questions we have when we sell these Casper CPR Manikins is: How do we change the lungs? Now we have just come up with a nice, quick and easy way. So we are just going to show you a quick, easy way to change the lungs in between your students.
Instructions for the Casper Manikin
First off is this cover. You will need to remove this cover which just holds the foam in place. Once you have removed the cover, you can take the foam pad out. So we just leave that out just for now. Now the next thing you need is a coat hanger. These coat hangers are just really cheap, thin coat hangers. We get these from local dry cleaners.
All we need to do is cut off the main hook part – that goes over the clothes rail – on one end, just put a little folded loop so you can put your finger to pull through, and at this end, fold it so there is a little curve on it. Then put tape around. Now it is important that you put the tape around because you are going to put this inside the manikin and you do not want the loose end in the manikin which could potentially catch on it.
Lung Bag
So the next thing is to look at the lung bag. The lung bag itself is a plastic bag and at one end it is sealed, and at the other end, it is open. So we need to make sure we put it in in the right way because we want the open end by the nose. So the first thing you do it take the small end you have made on the coat hanger, insert it up the nose. If you squeeze the nose to the side by pinching the nose you will actually open it up more.
Once that is done, the coat hanger will come through at this end. Then take the bag itself, fold it over a few times just to make sure you are not putting a twist in it. That is one problem you may have with the students: if there is a twist in it, the air is not going to go in. Then take the open end and pull it through the loop. Just catch it back a small amount, and simply from there, you just pull it. And pull it so that the plastic bag just comes out the end.
Continuing on
Once you have got that through, just pull it back a little bit to make sure that the bag is clear, and if you have got a twist in it, you can literally just pull it backwards and forwards. That will take the twist out. Pop the plastic on the inside, push the foam back in place, take the plastic cover and then insert that back. So just clip it in at the back, and then put your fingers in the holes here, you can open it up. Put one corner and then the other corner in. And that will just clip in place.
And at this end, we just need to fold that back. So then we are going to open up the plastic bag. We are going to pull that back over the tongue and over the nose of the manikin. So from here, we can still pull the tongue out to one side to simulate opening the airway. We have got a complete barrier around the nose of the manikin. Then it is easy to blow the air in and you should see the chest rising and falling when practising.
With Students
Now the final thing with the Casper Manikin is that you do not have to change the bags yourself. Try and get in the habit of getting your students to remove them. If you get them to remove the manikin here, and if they just pull out the bag, then they can tie a knot in it. Then your students can take those and pop them straight into the bin. This means you are not messing around with any plastic bags which have got any of their saliva on it. Finally, if you need to buy a Casper manikin or any of these manikins for your classes, if you get in touch with us, you can see them on first-aid-online.co.uk or you can give us a call on 01206 805380.
For more information on training courses, visit our “Courses” page which also includes our First Responder and First Person on Scene (FPOS) Courses.