First Aider Badge Course & Test, 1st June 2013

Written by: Gan Kah Kheng, Assistant Sixer & Scribe

Today, we had a First Aider badge course and test. There were nine of us attending the course, most of whom were Akela award candidates because the First Aid badge is a requirement for the Akela award application.

We started with Akela asking us some questions. The first question he posed was “what is first aid?” There were various responses, but in essence it is to provide preliminary assistance (do what you can) before expert help arrives to reduce stress, pain and suffering of the victim.

Akela also asked us how to treat a large wound. This time, Akela wanted a demonstration; Akela being the victim with a leg wound and Evan being the first aider. It was good learning fun as we watched Akela grimacing in pain while Evan rummaged through his first-aid box to get the right materials. We learnt that the correct procedure is to apply pressure with a clean cloth until the bleeding stops, then apply antiseptic onto the wound before applying gauze to cover the wound.

Akela also taught us how to treat burns and bee stings. For burns, we learnt that running the wound under cool water is good as it reduces heat but pricking a burn blister is not advisable as it exposes the area to infection. We also learnt that we should protect the wound with gauze/lint secured with a film instead of adhesive/cotton wool that would stick on the wound. As for bee sting, we learnt to our surprise that pulling out the stinger with tweezers is not the right thing as it may cause further injury/infection because it may cause the bulb of the stinger to stick further into the flesh and/or the bulb to release the harmful chemical from stinger. Instead, we learnt we should use a credit card or other dull-edged tool o scrap around the area to get the stinger out.

Next, Grey Wolf taught us how to do CPR. We watched a video together before learning it hands-on. I was the live dummy example during Grey Wolf’s initial demonstration but was too tickled to keep still. He then taught us the breathing and chest compression techniques with a dummy. We were taught that after confirming that a person is unconscious, we should check the environment quickly and call for help. Next, we should give 2 initial quick ventilation blows while observing the chest. If the person is still not breathing, then, we should commence chest compressions. This involves 30 compressions per cycle (1 per second), followed by 2 ventilation blows (5 seconds between each blow). We should continue and repeat until the person regains consciousness or when help arrives.

There was lots of good learning fun and laughter as we practiced on the dummies, with Grey Wolf meticulously correcting our individual techniques. We realized that it was tiring work doing CPR. After practicing multiple times of the whole procedure, Dr Koong and Dr Ho arrived to assess us. We each demonstrated the CPR technique to them and answered questions posed to us. Thanks to the good training of Akela and Grey Wolf, everyone passed the First Aid test and got our badges.

I present here the fresh new batch of First Aider badge awardees – Aruna, Claudia, Ethan, Evan, Evangel, Gabriel, Janice, Kah Kheng, Ryan and Tze Ray (attended external First Aid Certificate course).