First Aid

First Aid is a vital skill, not just for cadets when out on a remote expedition, but of use in general, day to day life. The Air Cadets aims to teach all their cadets basic first aid, with the option to study further.

Teaching usually begins with Heart Start Training. This is a course organised by the British Heart Foundation and aims to teach basic, life saving first aid. The course covers CPR and the recovery position, choking, bleeding and heart conditions. It gives the cadets a basic understanding of what to do should they find themselves in an emergency situation and how to assist.

Further training is available in the form of the St John’s Ambulance, Young Lifesaver Plus course. This course provides the cadets with a recognised First Aid qualification and teaches them a range of skills.

Courses are also run for adult volunteers, allowing them to not only gain first aid qualifications, but also allowing them to instruct first aid to the cadets.

First Aid Competitions

There are regular competitions within the Region where the cadet’s first aid skills are assessed. Cadets will be presented with an incident and be asked to deal with it. The simulated situation could be anything from a road traffic accident, a work place injury, an injured walker or many other incidents that you may come across.

The cadets are assessed to see how well they deal with the situation, their basic first aid skills, be that putting on a plaster to performing CPR, and how they work as a team.

Competitions and simulations allow the cadets to put into practice what they have learnt previously and also see what a real life situation may involve. We all hope they never need these skills or find themselves in one of these situations, but these events allow cadets to prepare, just in case.