First Aid

Okay! Lots to catch up on here!

It’s official – I’ve applied to Medical School! October the Fifteenth has passed without a problem – all of my UCAS stuff was done and submitted the week before (Seventeen drafts of my personal statement. Seventeen!). I have also taken my UKCAT test for the relevant universities and despite all of my worrying and the mistakes I made (you have to turn up with ID which I forgot! Fortunately my dad was home and was able to run my passport in to me), I got a score which I was very satisfied with.

First Aid

A long time ago I put my name down to help as a peer-to-peer first aid trainer, and I’m glad I did – statistically speaking if you know first aid, the first person you’re likely to use it on is someone you know and love (family, close friend etc). Another reason is that it genuinely does save lives! There is a state in America (maybe Florida...?) where first aid has been on the curriculum for the past 20 odd years, and they’ve had the number of preventable deaths drop by 5%.

Anyway, last week we all had to teach a sizeable group from the year below 3 basic things: CPR, the recovery position, and how to bandage a bleed. I found it really interesting how there were two standards of teaching that we had to get across. Because we had the year below with us and it wasn’t optional, not all of them wanted to listen. As a result we had the basics, which were something we hoped everyone would go away with (i.e. if someone isn’t breathing and has no pulse, compressions are the way to go) and that way there was at least a chance of them being able to help someone.

 But there was also the “golden standard” which was the whole schebang – checking for danger, response, airways and breathing before starting 30 compressions to 2 breaths. This meant that those who recognised how important this could be were able to really help someone. 

I found both sessions really eye opening. I was part of a team of three, and if I’m honest, the first session was a bit of a train crash – we were all a bit nervous and unsure, we got muddled up and we rushed it. I’d love to say the second session was a huge success, but while we didn’t muck up, trying to get them to engage was a real challenge – I turned around, having demonstrated how to bandage a bleeding wound, only to find a trio of girls had spent the whole time comparing breast sizes with their hands. 

However, this was a great learning curve and I’d definitely do it again; I feel that this kind of thing has to be better known and is actually a really useful skill for a teenager to have – if their friend has passed out at a party, then putting them in the recovery position can stop them choking on their own vomit. I also felt that this has given me more confidence to stand up in front of my own age group and try to teach them how to do something. 

World AIDs day is just around the corner (1^st December) so I’m thinking of putting my name down for some peer training with that too!