After calling 120 for emergency medical help, Ling Kai, 23, turned promptly to his injured colleague Xiao Xu, binding the wound to stop the bleeding and gingerly fixing a make-do splint around his broken legs with some strips of material.
A group of doctors arrived at the scene of the accident 10 minutes later.
They were pleased with Ling.
"You have really helped him have a greater chance of survival," Chen Zhi, a doctor with the 120 centre, told him.
The scenario was only make-believe, but the first-aid training may one day prove invaluable to the participants.
In Beijing only one in every 180 people has first-aid skills compared with one in four in the United States and one in 16 in Singapore.
This figure is something Beijing is trying to improve.
Ling, a new employee with the Beijing Sources Environmental Protection Technology Co Ltd, was among 18 workers to be given first-aid training at the firm.
The company's Zhao Yong, chief of work safety, told China Daily that the employees are subject to many dangerous working conditions.
"Fire, poisonous gas and other eventualities are all possible threats to our staff," Zhao said.
The company spends tens of thousands of yuan each year on safety equipment and related training.
"First aid is the most important training class we have ever had," he said.
During the two-day training session, the basics of how to stop bleeding are taught as well as the preliminary treatment of fractures and what to do if someone has stopped breathing.
"I never thought that I would be able to be helpful to others when they are in such critical situations," Ling said.
Ling believed the first-aid course could benefit himself, his family and colleagues.
"It's a kind of life-saving training," said Ling.
Traffic jams often delay the arrival of the emergency rescue team, Chen said.
"If you have some first-aid skills, you can help save a life," Chen said.
He recounted a case in which a young man had been stabbed in the stomach.
He died because he got the wrong treatment on his way to hospital.
"If the bleeding had been stopped correctly, he could have survived even if he was sent to a hospital an hour away," Chen said.
Chen and his co-worker had just finished a two-day training session for employees at a petrochemical corporation.
(China Daily March 25, 2005)
