My First Aid Experience: Don't Be Caught Off Guard

In primary school I joined the Red Cross society. If I’m to be brutally honest, I didn’t even know what Red Cross was all about. I only joined for the money. Now, you’re wondering how money is involved. Basically, we would be given small booklets to take money from anyone who wished to help the Red Cross society. I always looked forward to receiving that card because that was the time I would also get money from my family members and neighbours. I would allocate some of the money for Red Cross and some to myself for my hard work.😂

Even though I joined for a whole different reason, along the line , I came to fully understand what was going on there and as I grew older, I started to participate actively in the activities of the club. That was my first experience with learning about first aid.
Growing up, I wasn’t really the kind of child that would go out to play and get hurt. I was usually always buried in a book at home or in school doing God knows what. I remember getting hurt so many times in school, thanks to my friends. I was actually a stubborn child then but I can say I am better than I used to be.😂 Once, a classmate pushed me off a table in class and I landed on my nose. The was blood everywhere and we all didn’t know what to do until a teacher came in to help with first aid before I was sent to the hospital. Till date, I remember the whole experience like it happened today.

From my experiences so far, I can say that first aid is something every individual must have a fair idea of. I bet you there are so manny adults out there who don’t even know how to administer basic first aid when necessary. Gone were the days when we were being taught these basic stuff in school but these days, we don’t have that anymore. Regardless, with the advancement of technology in this era, everyone of us can learn about first aid without having to be taught.

Growing up, I was more like a mom to my younger siblings and cousins because they all wanted to be around me. With kids at home, we always made sure to have a first aid kit available because you never know what these kids might decide to do. I never really had to administer first aid to any of the kids I baby sat for so long until my baby brother decided to give me the scare of my life some years back.

I don’t know how it happened or what actually happened. All I heard were cries and I run out to check because there was no one at home. Lo and behold, he had broken his left arm and all he did was to sit there crying. For a minute, I panicked because I honestly didn’t know what to do. But then, my grandmother is actually an expert with bones so I knew one or two tricks. I calmed myself down and the got sometime to hold the hand in place to prevent further damage before taking him to the hospital. You know babies do not have fully developed bones and so care must be taken in such situations. We finally got to the hospital and we were attended to. Thankfully, the doctors were able to get the arm in place and so all we had to do was give it time to heal.

Honestly, I don’t think I was ever prepared for something like this in my life but then I had to do something in that moment and that’s exactly what I did. Funny enough, he broke the same arm the second time again. These kids!

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