Screams, stampedes and lots of blood – and no-one hurt, thankfully. These were the sights and sounds of the annual First Aid Course which took place from Wednesday 29th until Friday 31st January, led by the second-year First Aid team and monitored by teacher David Robertson, Red Cross instructor and supervisor. All first-year students and many staff members attended the tolv timer førstehjelp course, a combination of basic First Aid and workshop modules in more advanced First Aid. In groups of ten to fourteen the students and teachers rotated through the classrooms and learned essentials from how to treat a scald to the right application of a bandage. The rotations ended in an examined test and a practical assessment where participants actively treated ‘casualties’ in scenarios, and performed bandaging and rescue exercises. Upon successful completion of this course participants are awarded with a Red Cross diploma.

Among the course participants were 9 visitors currently living at Bergum Mottak, a centre for asylum seekers with which we have a long-standing affiliation. These visitors, who came from Eritrea, Iran, Sri Lanka and Congo, greatly enjoyed the stimulating and engaging sessions with the students, the opportunity to learn something new and practical, and the chance to have a refreshing break from their normal routines.

Marcin Jerzewski (Poland), a member of the Red Cross Nordic First Aid Team described his experience as follows,

“I have really appreciated the opportunity to become a part of the team of First Aid instructors. During the course the word ‘boredom’ definitely disappeared from my lexicon, and the variety of skills that I was learning and exercising were tremendous. These three days were a great lesson of creativity, leadership and mutual responsibility for the instructors as well as for all first-year participants: it has been a remarkably intense, yet truly UWC experience.”

David Robertson and Rektor Richard Lamont expressed their thanks to the second-year students who worked as instructors and examiners on the course – with David commenting that it was ‘… possibly the best-led First Aid course we’ve had at RCN.’ High praise indeed!

Sophie Schwechheimer (RCN 12-14)