FIRST AID
QUICK TASK
INTRODUCE CADETS TO CPR BY GIVING THEM A CHANCE TO GET HANDS ON WITH ANNIE, SUGGESTS CAPTAIN KATIE ADCOCK CPR techniques are a fundamental part of first aid training
a few cadets look at that and think ‘wow, I could be a paramedic or a nurse’,” she says. “And recently one very clever young man left the cadets to study medicine and wrote back to us to say that the experience and confidence he’d gained through ACF first aid training and competitions helped him to get his place at university.” But the skills are valuable to all, regardless of their career path, emphasises Chris. “Teaching first aid skills to our cadets and adult volunteers gives them the courage to
help other people,” he says. “You read every week of the acts of selflessness and bravery undertaken by our young people and adult instructors who have been able to make a difference to someone else’s life because of their first aid training. That is a privilege and an extremely rewarding thing.”
FIND OUT MORE Speak to your CFATO for more information on first aid courses within the ACF.
DANIEL MEASOM, HIGHLY COMMENDED ST JOHN’S AMBULANCE EVERYDAY HEROES AWARD Cadets can get a bit giggly when they’re first introduced to CPR. “They find it hilarious when you get them to practise on Resusci Annie,” says Daniel Measom, detachment commander at North Shields Gardens, Durham ACF. “But then I tell them my story and they immediately get why it’s so important.” His story began when he
joined the ACF at 12 and learnt first aid. Then, when he was 23, he put that knowledge to use outside the confines of a national competition. “I was washing the dishes when I heard a blood-curdling scream,” he says. “I went out and there was a man with a baby in his arms banging on doors looking for help. She was wet and
EQUIPMENT: Resusci Annie; optionally, A4 paper, sellotape and a marker TIME: 10 minutes WHERE: Indoors AIM: Familiarise cadets with Resusci Annie; demonstrate the correct hand placement for chest compressions INSTRUCTIONS: Let cadets look at Annie and experiment with what she feels like, then ask them to take turns placing their hands on her chest in the right position for chest compressions. You can make a little competition of it by taping paper to her chest and marking cadets’ guesses to see who is closest before demonstrating the correct placement. Most people instinctively choose the right position, which can give cadets confidence when starting first aid training.
had no signs of life.” Daniel gave the 11-month-old girl, who had drowned in the bath, CPR until an ambulance arrived and paramedics took over. “It was only then that reality set in and I went pale. But as the paramedics were leaving one of them said to me ‘well done, she’s alive’. And she’s alive today.”
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