Thursday, December 1, 2011

Do we have this in the US?

Random little tidbit: one of my classes was cancelled today because the kids (and by kids I mean 19 year olds) were taking a first aid/disaster prevention class instead. It was so cool. They were taught what to do in all sorts of situations, cuts, broken bones, seizures, accidents, with different ages of victims. The baby dummy was creepy, but probably useful to someone someday. They did skits where they practiced dealing with each situation and then afterwards talked about the theory and what they did correctly or incorrectly. Apparently they've been doing this for years. It seemed like a really worthwhile experience to practice what to do in any emergency to reduce panic and cut down on response time. I was impressed. It left me wondering, however, do we have something like that in the US? Obviously I didn't grow up there or go to public school, so I have no idea how we're preparing our kids, especially in such an earthquake prone environment. The only American equivalent I've ever heard of is first aid/CPR classes, but those aren't linked to school and are thus not popular and fairly expensive. Maybe we should look into creating some similar program in American schools. Who knows, it could save lives.

4 comments:

  1. I fear that "Drop, tuck and roll" may be the extent of what is considered free first aid instruction in CA public schools. Time is not a luxury at many disaster scenes. Being thrust into the role of first aid administer is stressful enough without having to guess how to stop an arterial, perform CPR, splint a broken leg, how to use a fire extinguisher, you get the picture. If it is cost, then governments should calculate the expense of teaching an elementary class about how to turn switch off the gas valve from their homes after an earthquake vs the possible loss of life. Good for you Lauren for getting the conversation started.

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  2. I meant to write arterial bleed and gas valves to their homes.

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  3. Keep in mind, America is the country that decided that "Duck and Cover" would keep us safe from nuclear strikes.

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  4. What are your plans for the New Year?

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