{And whosoever saves a life it is as if he has saved all of humanity}
Quran 5:32
As part of our just for dad series, learning first aid is not only a life skill that every Muslim man and women should know, it can also save lives. On top of that it can be a really fun, practical, and a motivating lesson for our children. We ask Allah to protect us and our loved ones from any harm small or large, but whatever He decrees will happen, and accidents and emergencies do. Providing first aid education to our children may not only help them save a life someday, but can build their self-confidence, and maturity, through becoming more responsible and valuing the blessing of life, by realizing how fragile it is.
Knowing what to do is important.
Unfortunately I have had the experience of watching someone die, laid out on the ground as a crowd stands around waiting for an ambulance, and one untrained onlooker decides to try some Hollywood pumping on the chest, which probably resulted in nothing more than broken ribs. This experience for me was a classic example of two types of people in an emergency situation when knowledge of First Aid and CPR is absent. Type One is a deer in headlights, shocked at the situation or panicking, becoming just as helpless as the injured victim. Type Two thinks he is MacGyver and tries to help, only doing more harm than good. We want our children to avoid falling into either of these two categories. We want them to be strong, responsible Muslims, who can help out their fellow citizen when in need.
The way to do this is to get formal training.
First aid is something that should be practiced. Just like a martial artist who trains blocking a punch hundreds of times, in order to prepare for a possible situation, first aid must also be learned and practiced. Emergencies can catch the strongest of individuals off guard, especially if they are faced with a loved one who is hurt. Training, practice, and review can help to turn off the minds panic mode when and if a situation occurs, and allow that training to take over like instinct. Your son or daughter might not ever need to use it on a loved one, but chances are they may see a situation in their lifetime varying from someone choking, cutting themselves badly or suffering a severe injury from a fall, to any number of varying incidents. The ability to step in can be the difference between life and death. It doesn’t take long to die, but it can take a few minutes for an ambulance to show up. The average arrival time for an EMT may be about 6-10 min, and a lot can happen in that time. Thankfully most situation will be minor, but someone with experience can bring a lot of calm and comfort to those in need. In all situations the reward is great.Getting Certified
Taking First Aid and CPR certification classes can be a lot of fun. They may run between $60 to $110 which is a small price for the information gained. Especially for homeschoolers it can be great to take a break from mom and dad to go and have a professional instructor teach them some practical life skills. To find a first aid/cpr class near you click here
Because these are adult-education based courses, the minimum recommended ages for certification is 13 years old. However, if a student can understand the information and pass the written and skills testing, then he or she should be issued a certification card regardless of his or her age. Also the child would need about an 8th grade reading level, which may vary depending on the emphasis you have put into your reading curriculum. If there are age limitations where you are located, you can always take the course yourself, and later review what you have learned witih your family. It will be well worth it regardless.
Taking First Aid and CPR certification classes can be a lot of fun. They may run between $60 to $110 which is a small price for the information gained. Especially for homeschoolers it can be great to take a break from mom and dad to go and have a professional instructor teach them some practical life skills. To find a first aid/cpr class near you click here
Because these are adult-education based courses, the minimum recommended ages for certification is 13 years old. However, if a student can understand the information and pass the written and skills testing, then he or she should be issued a certification card regardless of his or her age. Also the child would need about an 8th grade reading level, which may vary depending on the emphasis you have put into your reading curriculum. If there are age limitations where you are located, you can always take the course yourself, and later review what you have learned witih your family. It will be well worth it regardless.
You can also watch the video below.
This is in no way a substitute for actual training, but will give you a small idea of what training is like and can offer.
What lesson are can you extract and include into this?
1. First aid
2. Responsibility to your brothers and sisters in humanity
3. Self confidence
4. Anatomy of the human body
5. Life and death
"More than 1,000 "saveable"lives are lost needlessly each year in the nation's biggest cities because ofinefficiencies in the cities' emergency medical systems" -USA Today-
