First Aid Evening Sessions

Today I realised that it has been a while since I’ve written about the voluntary work I do here in Kullu. Not too long ago, Ankit’s trekking crew was trained in First Aid, and Ankit (our local co-ordinator) wanted some evening sessions in addition to the daily sessions given by a doctor. He asked if we could do it seeing as we all had done at least a basic first aid course.

We only did a few sessions in a hotel room, but we got to go through DR.ABCD, recovery position, burns, cuts and bleeding, and some scenarios. I must say it was fun because I hadn’t done much first aid since before the summer when we had the last big scenario at school with the first aid team. And then I didn’t get to do as much as I wanted because I had heavy sun burns all over my legs. When I walked it looked like I had shit my pants, to put it gently. These few evening sessions made me remember how much I like doing first aid and it was very refreshing. Also, the trekking crew said it was nice to learn from me as well since I had a completely different style than the doctor. The doctor was very technical and advanced when explaining. I was simple and spoke the common man’s language. At least according to the feedback from the trekking crew I was easy to understand.

Very often you feel useless when doing voluntary work; I remember Pete (my English teacher) also mentioned that at school. So in a way I was prepared for it, but it does not make it any less frustrating. At least when doing social voluntary work you sometimes feel like you disturb the daily routine of the children at times. So the first aid evening sessions came as a fresh breath of air, a real confidence boost where I felt useful again.