ST JOHN'S AMBULANCE FIRST AID

This week, we had Grant from St John's Ambulance visit our school to teach our students some First Aid. This included everything from taking their friends to R&R on the school yard all the way to teaching the First Aid Action Plan of DRSABCD in an emergency situation.

The Foundation and grade 1 & 2 students learnt Danger, Response and Send for help. First, they identified Dangers in an emergency situation using their eyes, ears and nose . These were things such as a bicycle or other obstacle, spilt water, broken glass, gas or a fire. If the situation is safe, students then checked for a Response in the patient by calling out the patients name and squeezing their shoulders. If there is no response from the patient, students then learnt different ways to Send for help. If they did not have access to a phone, they learnt to use their big voice and call for help, to go to a trusted neighbour or wave down a car to call 000. If they could access a phone, they learnt to swipe up, press the emergency button, dial 000 & press the green call button.

The big takeaway for these students was to make sure they know their home address or the addresses where they spend a lot of time (Grandparents, family or friends), or get these people to write their addresses on the fridge.

As well as the above information, the grade 3/4 students learnt to check a patient's Airway and whether they are Breathing. When students check the airway, they learnt to tilt the patients head back, open their mouth and see if there was anything blocking the person's throat. This could be food, vomit or even their tongue. If anything in their mouth, students learnt to roll the person on their side to let the obstruction fall out. Students then learnt to check in the patient is Breathing by looking, listening and feeling for breath coming out their mouth. Students learnt how to put a person who is unconscious but breathing into the recovery position while you wait for emergency services to arrive.

In grade 5/6 students also learnt that if a patient is unconscious and not breathing, they should start CPR. Students practiced CPR to the tune of "Staying Alive", "Baby Shark" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and learnt when they are allowed to stop CPR.

We encourage you to talk with your child about what they learnt in these sessions and see if they can teach you anything! We are super grateful to St John's Ambulance for providing our students with this opportunity.

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