Cub Scouts : Programme Ideas

Practicing First Aid

Practicing first aid sitting comfortably in he den, with the patient looking halthier than ever, is all very well, but t is nowhere near what it is really like in an emergency. Everyone?s reactions -and their ability at first aid ?under stress? - can be tested by staging more or less authentic incidents.

To help the realism, use make-up on the casualties and get them to react in the way real casualties would. This is not as difficult as it might sound. I have used young Patrol Leaders - one saying little except that ?he was cold?, and shivering to prove it, the other pretending to be unconscious and therefore doing nothing. The biggest problem is always preventing them bursting out laughing (not surprising when you see some first aid treatment!) but the casualties must realise how important it is to concentrate on keeping a straight face.

First aid fun

What games could we use to learn first aid?

A first aid box Kim?s game.- ?Guess the ailment? quiz. - A bandage relay.- Transport of patients ?relay.

What practical exercises could we us to train our Cub Scouts/Macaoimh?

Practice bandaging with the use of clothes rather than bandages. This does not mean using Scout scarf but ordinary, everyday items of clothing. Different techniques of making and carrying stretchers. This would involve different terrain?s: land, water, fields,

roads, steep hillsides and so on.

Dealing with an incident

For a young person of Cub age their primary concern in a first aid situation is

to seek help. The process of doing this is as important as the treatment of injuries. How to phone for help whether it is an ambulance, Gardai or fire bridage. Sometimes they may find themselves in situations where they can help, for example, when one of their friends has cut themselves when playing in a field and it is some distance to help, simple treatment can be applied before an adult arrives. This is the level that our first aid instruction should take.

The introduction of more serious injuries into the programme only aids to frighten young people. First aid and dealing with emergencies is an ongoing feature of Scouting and as your Cubs progress into the Scout section first aid will be revisited and new skills introduced so when setting up training or incident trails for your Sixes keep this in mind.

First Aid incident trail

For this exercise you need to set up a number of incidents which will form the trail. Usually 4 - 6 incidents with each incident lasting for 10 - 15 minutes. The sixes move between the incidents when a whistle is blown. At each incident there should be a helper/assessor who explains what has happened and watches the Six in action. It will be necessary to offer advice and warn the Six when they are doing something wrong, so that necessary skills are learnt with practice. Volunteer casualties who ?react? to treatment are better than dummies. Keep the incidents simple - a cut on a leg, someone who has fainted, a burn, someone who is choking etc. Have your volunteers wear old clothing to prevent dye and colouring from ruining or staining clothing.

Casualty simulation

Here are some recipes to enable your Sixes to understand injury problems better. By concocting these recipes and applying them to practice situations, it will undoubtedly help them to recognise the real problems and will help to cope with the trauma of seeing the real wounds,

Recipe for blood

Food colouring

Water

Gelatine

Mix water and gelatine into a weak jelly solution. Add food colouring to mixture.

Store in a bottle and shake regularly

Recipe for Burns

You will need some rouge, a yellow felt-tipped pen or food colouring and some clear plastic food-wrap, Apply a light area of rouge to the skin.

Use the yellow colouring to make ?blisters?.

Add a little water for the serus fluid.

Cover the area with the plastic foodwrap.

Rub over the plastic to give a blistered effect

Recipe for grazes

Make an area of skin pink with food colouring

Rub a cocktail stick over the area to make scratch marks or use a red pen.

Recipe for bruises

Here you will need different colour make-up eyeshadow pencils - silver,blue, purple or brown. Mix the colours according to the colour of the bruise required.

Apply the colour to the top of a thin layer of modelling clay for a swollen effect. To produce a shiny ?surface, rub with vaseline or similar,

Recipe for fainting signs

Simply use white talcum powder or chalk dust and lightly dust over the face and hands.

Recipe for cuts

You will need a small amount of modelling clay, some simulated blood and a plastic bottle (to simulate glass) and perhaps some nails and cocktail sticks. Apply a thin layer of modelling clay to the area of skin. Using the cocktail stick make a line to the rough depth of a cut. Fill the ?cut? with small pieces of broken clear plastic. Cover with simulated blood. Cover the surrounding area of skin with a small amount of face powder to camouflage the edges of the wound.

Serious Burns

These include scalds and chemical burns and may take place at home, in factory or at camp. They may be associated with electric shock or house or clothing on fire. Shock ?make up? is important.

Fractures

These can occur in many situations including falling from a tree or downstairs as well as sports events. Fractures can be simple or compound and can occur in any part of the arm or leg or in the collar bone.

Unconsciousness

This condition may occur because of a bang to the head, suffocation due to drowning or gas poisoning, shock, electric shock or illness.

Mountaineering Accident

This calls for different treatment from normal due to the remote situation of the accident. The Sixes should, if possible, be given a map of a mountain area and their position so that they can work out how they are going to send for help.

Rescue work

These incidents are primarily concerned with rescuing a casualty and the amount of actual First Aid required should be kept to a minimum otherwise the incident becomes too complicated to be tackled in the time available. It is better to have a live ?casualty? where possible but if this involves undue risk a dummy may have to be used. The story should be such as to make the required treatment correct for the circumstances presented.

Ideas might include

Rescue from swamp or quicksand.

Drowning.

Electric Shock.

Rescue from island or flooding.

Dangerous animal.

Underground rescue.

Rescue of person trapped in derelict building