Teaching First Aid in Schools.

This is one part of my job that I truly enjoy. I feel that there is so much to be gained teaching First Aid skills to children. They learn quickly and retain the information exceptionally well. The benefits of this can be seen when you hear that one of the children you teach has been able to apply that learning to help a friend.

Allow me to introduce Annabella.

Annabella is a Year 7 student at Belmont Preparatory School in Mill Hill and has just completed her 6-week First Aid course as part of the School’s Future Skills Programme. A couple of weeks ago, Annabella found herself in a position to use her newly learnt skills to help her friend when she suddenly became ill. This is what happened that day.

M – Thank you for chatting to me. What happened that day?

A – We were in a French class and my friend went all pale, like a ghost. I asked her if she was okay, and she replied “No, I feel like I’m going to faint”. The teacher and the rest of the class didn’t notice she was feeling unwell. My friend continued to look pale, so the teacher said she could go to the Nurse, so I volunteered to take her.

I took her down the staircase in the main building, but she leaned over and continued to look pale and had trouble speaking, she sounded quite husky. She suddenly went all floppy and started to fall. I caught her and helped down onto the stairs and told her that I was going to run and get help.

I ran to the Nurses Office and told them what had happened. They came straight away and brought all their equipment with them. The Nurse measured her heartbeat, her oxygen levels and took her blood pressure. They decided to call an ambulance and asked me to put her legs up before fetching more equipment. The Nurse kept checking on my friend until the ambulance arrived, at which point I returned to my lesson.

M – Did learning about First Aid as part of your Future Skills classes make you feel any more confident about helping?

A – Definitely. Doing the First Aid sessions meant that I knew more about what was happening to my friend. If I hadn’t done the First Aid, I don’t think I would have known what was going on, or how to deal with it.

M – From my perspective I think it’s amazing that you felt confident enough to help your friend, and your quick actions made a difference on the day. Congratulations for remembering what you had learnt and putting it into practice.

Thankfully, the girl in question is now feeling better and this situation was not life threatening. But the difference is having people around you that understand what to do at the time. Knowing when someone is unwell and how to best help them can make a significant difference.

It’s never too young to start learning First Aid. We run classes for children from the age of 3 upwards, so don’t delay, start their training today!