“They can absolutely save lives”: Manjimup Family Centre holds first aid workshops for children and teenagers

Manjimup children had the opportunity to learn life-saving skills on Friday when two first aid sessions were held at the family centre. Hosted by Cool Kids First Aid director and instructor Natascha Mazurek, the sessions were open to children between four and 15 years old and covered important skills, topics and life-saving methods tailored to the age groups. Ms Mazurek said the training sessions consisted of many different workshops and training situations, with children learning about anaphylactic allergic reactions, using an Epipen and CPR techniques. “We teach children what to do in an emergency and for the older children, we do the same as we would for adults and explain in detail how to keep safe, how to send for help and how to check if someone is conscious,” she said. “We also go through CPR, putting someone in the recovery position and dealing with asthma and anaphylaxis, along with bandaging wounds.” She said the importance of teaching children in regional areas came from the lack of immediate resources and help that may come to them during an emergency and prepared them for those situations. “The reason we decided to teach regional Australian kids in particular is because children in regional areas can’t just go next door for help, as they’re normally a long way from help,” she said. “So at least, if we can get them to call triple-zero and do those first few steps without them being overwhelmed or terrified, as a lot of adults are in those situations, it’s been proven that they can absolutely save lives. “We hear all the time of children ringing through to triple-zero and it’s been proven time and time again that children are very capable in an emergency if we teach them the skills and the knowledge behind it.” Manjimup Family Centre manager Ruth Phillips said Friday was the second time the centre had done the sessions, which she said gave the kids an opportunity to also meet other children. “We did it last year and we felt that it was a really great skill for kids to learn, since there have been instances where children have played a big role in saving lives, calling 000 and doing CPR,” she said. “It also provides an opportunity to meet other children with a fun activity as well.” The sessions introduced kids to emergency protocol and safety for those who may not know beforehand and also allowed them to learn skills such as CPR and accessing help in an emergency. “They’ll have an introduction on what to do in an emergency, how to keep themselves safe and how to access help,” she said. “I hope they have lots of fun learning the skills, and it’s very hands-on and it might be the children’s first time to do CPR on a dummy and learn the proper skills.”