First-Aid Course

The importance of being a good samaritan!

Activity Planning

As one grows, one realises just how fragile life can be, whether it be a result of a traumatic incident or a simple snap-back-to-reality situation. Hence, we should always try to be thankful for health and safety as without it, everything else would be irrelevant - be it fortune or success or even happiness for that matter. Nevertheless, should one crisis present itself where a person seeks first-aid, the skills to handle the victim carefully requires tranquility and control. As a result, after living seventeen years, I have decided to take part  in a first-aid course to learn the essential skills to become a capable samaritan. 

Additionally, this activity would be a perfect start for anyone dedicated to become a future medicine student. In fact, it benefits one to understand how to engage with patients and learn how the body biologically, chemically and physically reacts in several example scenarios. A final factor as to why this would be a purposeful CAS activity is that it is required for obtaining a driver’s licence in Germany and hence I am keen to learn a new skill.

The training occurred in a special school for first-aid courses and will certainly be safe. The supervisor for this CAS activity was naturally the First-Aid instructor, Mr Arnolds who taught us interestingly and comfortably.

Reflection

It was exciting to attend a first-aid seminar and be one of many students, whom ages vary over a wide range, in order to learn or reinforce the skill of attending first-aid. The entire seminar lasted the whole day, i.e. 8 hours and it felt reassuring to learn so much and practice the procedures with mannequins. Naturally, the whole seminar was conducted in German and I was pleased with myself that I was able to understand almost everything - except a couple of times when specific terminologies were used in German where I was unfamiliar with. Then I asked a friend of mine for a quick translation. I took notes carefully and repeated the steps in my head repetitively. 

At the end of the day, I was proud to have learnt how to execute each step should anyone require first-aid attention. It was at times mundane and slightly monotone since there was not always an activity in between to keep the learners focused but fortunately I managed to stay concentrated and remain persevered to understand the difficult language vocabulary used. 

There was even ethical issues debated heatedly by a fellow student, a middle-aged man, who argued that one should call the emergency unit prior to attending the victim. However, this was not the case as one would be unable to inform the authorities how serious the situation is without first inspecting victim. 

To summarise, I have learnt how to do… a stabile Seitenlage, Herzdruckmassage, and how to use the AED (or Defi for defibrillator). The following image from Google Images shows the entire procedure in German:

A german flow-chart explaining the procedure to first aid (selected from Google Images)

Following that, we learned how to carefully tend to an injury such as poisoning (from alcohol, carbon monoxide, berry etc.) as well as fractures and the loss of minor body part such as a tooth or a finger. 

To recap, here are my achieved Learning Outcomes for this Service CAS activity:

1. Increased my awareness of my areas of strength and weaknesses: communication and interaction.
2. Undertook the new challenge of attending a First-Aid Course where German is the language of instruction, i.e. my second learnt foreign language.
3. Planned when to go where and register myself in advance for the seminar.
4. Worked collaboratively when necessary during the training.
5. Showed perseverance as I attend 2x four-hour trainings in one day.
6. Engaged with an issues of global importance, i.e. health and safety, medical attention and care.
7. Considered the ethical implications of my actions for serving my community.
8. Developed a life-saving skills.

I enjoyed learning so much in a subject I am very interested in and I hope to further increase my knowledge and expertise is this area in the near future. For the time being though… driver’s licence here I come!

My certificate for successful participation in the first-aid course seminar!

Evita ☺