Fun ways to review First Aid with tweens?
January 22, 2018 2:45 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for engaging activities to go over basic outdoor First Aid with my Girl Scout Cadettes. Not for the badge or to get certified, but in preparation for an outdoor skills challenge. Any ideas for fun ways to do this?
Five to eight girls, two adults, we can be inside or outside. We don't have enough people to stage anything like a zombie apocalypse (and we're going to one of those in a few months anyway); I need something more like a series of games or activities. The Scouts are 11 and 12 years old. They should go over the common injuries (and ways to avoid them) for hiking, camping, and archery.
Five to eight girls, two adults, we can be inside or outside. We don't have enough people to stage anything like a zombie apocalypse (and we're going to one of those in a few months anyway); I need something more like a series of games or activities. The Scouts are 11 and 12 years old. They should go over the common injuries (and ways to avoid them) for hiking, camping, and archery.
Best answer: For young teens, hands on is totally the way to go with this. They are hopefully world saavy enough to cover the ways to prevent the injuries in a few minutes of conversation, and then devote the rest of the time to practicing bandages, basic splinting, and slings. The simplest injuries to cover are a 'broken' arm (splint and then a sling), bleeding (arm or legs or head; direct pressure, pressure dressing, elevate, rest), sprained ankle (pillow splint, or a premade splint, and ice). For archery it's important to cover 'don't remove an impaled object'! Fake blood and makeup make it awesome but especially for beginners to first aid can be distracting to the basic skills. Don't forget to cover how/when to call 911 (or local emerg line), ensure your own safety at a scene and general basic treatment of a seriously injured person (treat for shock, rest, don't try to move them). If you have extra time sometimes it's fun to have do a 'Goofus and Gallant' type skit where one person shows what NOT to do, and then someone else shows what TO DO.
posted by Northbysomewhatcrazy at 5:44 PM on January 22, 2018
posted by Northbysomewhatcrazy at 5:44 PM on January 22, 2018
Best answer: I'm thirding the "hands on" and role play ideas. In my experience, people are a lot more likely to remember how to do things they've actually physically practiced before, as opposed to just watching others demonstrate.
You could have a volunteer play the injured person in a staged accident, or set up stations for practicing specific activities.
When to call 911, when to not move an injured person, checking for signs of brain injury are good things to cover.
posted by ethical_caligula at 6:35 PM on January 22, 2018
You could have a volunteer play the injured person in a staged accident, or set up stations for practicing specific activities.
When to call 911, when to not move an injured person, checking for signs of brain injury are good things to cover.
posted by ethical_caligula at 6:35 PM on January 22, 2018
i think you are well meaning, but misguided. it's not fair to deceive them that they have skills and can offer any kind of standard-of-care.
without proper training, the direction is: call 911 and follow directions.
find real training.
posted by j_curiouser at 11:57 PM on January 22, 2018
without proper training, the direction is: call 911 and follow directions.
find real training.
posted by j_curiouser at 11:57 PM on January 22, 2018
Best answer: j_curiouser, for sure, that's what I always do when I skin my knee, twist my ankle, or cut my finger. Especially when I'm out hiking or camping. I ignore any bleeding, call 911 and expect an immediate medevac. It's better I don't get involved.
Actually, this is not true, I am a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) trained volunteer who is not currently Red Cross first aid certified, and you can bet I'm going to do my best to use basic first aid and common sense to take care of a wound while I determine it's severity and then, if needed, call 911. I'm pretty confident an tween could also make this initial assessment of an injury- and it's great to teach self-sufficiency. I work with other volunteers who have rusty memories of the few hours of first aid training they received at some point, and we drill on the details of how to treat basic injuries using a manual as a reference, just like a girl scout would. In my city, my ragtag group of volunteers would be first responders in the event of an emergency where paramedics are not available or able to be dispatched. I think any skills are good skills- and I don't see any reason to assume Girl Scout Cadettes (!) wouldn't have received "real training".
My team reviews through role play- describing a scene, describing what you would do, then arguing over some tiny detail, then looking it up in the manual to see who's right, repeat. We have plans to do some hands on practice at one of our next meetings. We also plan to volunteer as victims for other new trainees' triage training. Something I'd like to do with my team is staff the first aid tent for an event- like a fun run or something. Events like this are always looking for volunteers- I wonder if they'd take a few scouts if accompanied by an adult? The girls could help set up the tent and count out supplies, if nothing else (I don't know how intense it can get in there!).
posted by Secretariat at 9:44 AM on January 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
Actually, this is not true, I am a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) trained volunteer who is not currently Red Cross first aid certified, and you can bet I'm going to do my best to use basic first aid and common sense to take care of a wound while I determine it's severity and then, if needed, call 911. I'm pretty confident an tween could also make this initial assessment of an injury- and it's great to teach self-sufficiency. I work with other volunteers who have rusty memories of the few hours of first aid training they received at some point, and we drill on the details of how to treat basic injuries using a manual as a reference, just like a girl scout would. In my city, my ragtag group of volunteers would be first responders in the event of an emergency where paramedics are not available or able to be dispatched. I think any skills are good skills- and I don't see any reason to assume Girl Scout Cadettes (!) wouldn't have received "real training".
My team reviews through role play- describing a scene, describing what you would do, then arguing over some tiny detail, then looking it up in the manual to see who's right, repeat. We have plans to do some hands on practice at one of our next meetings. We also plan to volunteer as victims for other new trainees' triage training. Something I'd like to do with my team is staff the first aid tent for an event- like a fun run or something. Events like this are always looking for volunteers- I wonder if they'd take a few scouts if accompanied by an adult? The girls could help set up the tent and count out supplies, if nothing else (I don't know how intense it can get in there!).
posted by Secretariat at 9:44 AM on January 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
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