This morning, we welcomed Dawn the paramedic into our Year 1 classroom to complete our Basic First Aid Bronze Award. First of all, Dawn asked us how we treat a burn. We knew that we needed to run it under cool water but our guesses for how long this should be done for were way out. Eventually, we came to the right answer which is 20 minutes. Dawn them showed us how we give first aid to someone with a graze. We all practised applying a plaster without touching the part of the plaster that will touch the graze. Then we learnt how to treat an open wound and got the opportunity to practise bandaging a wound for our friend. Finally, Dawn told us about anaphylaxis. We learnt that anaphylaxis is an extreme allergic reaction where there are symptoms such as extreme swelling. In this case, we found out that we need to use an EpiPen to treat someone. We practised using an EpiPen by reciting the rhyme ‘Blue to the sky and orange to the thigh’. Dawn explained that we do this for 10 seconds and that the thigh is a big muscle which is why we do it there. Dawn also said that we need to call 999 because anaphylaxis is an emergency. When you dial 999, Dawn said that the first thing you will be asked is what service you require and for a medical emergency you will ask for the ambulance. Then , Dawn said that the ambulance will ask for your home address so it’s really important that we all know this. Dawn gave us some scenarios and we had to day whether we would phone an ambulance. We said yes for someone who has collapsed and was not responding, complaining of a pain in their heart and looking pale and having an asthma attack and struggling to breathe/talk in full sentences. Dawn also explained the dangers of dialling 999 for a joke. Thank you Dawn. Year 1 learnt lots about basic first aid.
