Read all our latest health and wellness articles.
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With the traditional ‘direct specialist access’ system of healthcare in Geneva, it can be hard to find a good, caring, English speaking General Practitioner – who can treat the whole person and the whole family. We, at HealthFirst, believe having a generalist who takes care of both our preventative health and the first line treatment […]
30th November 2011
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Allergies – mild, moderate and severe reactions – are increasing in the developed world. It is a concern, not just for ourselves and our children but also when we are looking after other people’s children. Whilst training parents, teachers and carers during our First Aid Courses, we are often asked why this is. Looking at […]
21st November 2011
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Yesterday, Dr Penny trained 8 teenagers from an international school in Geneva. It was a session full of serious concepts like how to recognise someone having a heart attack, how to make that important call to alert the emergency services (in English and in French). They learned and practised the techniques of good, effective CPR […]
18th November 2011
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When the skin is burnt (by a hot liquid, hot vapour, a chemical, friction etc), the skin may be open, weeping or charred. After adequately cooling the area of injury with cool running water, it is important to put the right type of dressing on it. Why do I need to put a dressing on […]
10th November 2011
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With the wind whipping up and the cold mornings truely here, so do the middle ear infections. These infections can caused by a virus or bacteria and are called otitis media, in medical terms. Often the bacteria or viruses travel up the tube from the nose or throat, particularly if they are full of germs […]
3rd November 2011
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One of the downsides of living in such a beautiful mountainous country as Switzerland is that the air can dry out the inside of the nose. This can make us, and our children, more vulnerable to nosebleeds. Do you know what you should do if someone has a nosebleed? Firstly, stay calm and sit the […]
22nd October 2011
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With the temperatures outside dropping, we are at the start of the season of colds, coughs and other feverish illnesses. And as our bodies, or the the bodies of our children, react to these illnesses, so our temperature rises. Any body temperature above 37.5 degrees is classified as a fever (when taken via the ear […]
21st October 2011
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All the doctors and associates that work at HealthFirst are expats themselves, members of the Anglophone international community. We know what it is like to move country and all the highs and lows that that entails. Take a listen to our child psychotherapist, Rachel Melville-Thomas being interviewed on exactly this subject on World Radio Switzerland: […]
18th October 2011
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At HealthFirst, we continually update the content of our courses according to the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) guidelines. This organisation fosters the production, collation and dissemination of evidence based information on the best resuscitation practices round the world. One of the emerging facts is that starting good, effective chest compressions as early as […]
14th October 2011
