Little Rescuers

I am Caroline. I have been a Paramedic for 14 years and a Mum for almost 3……the last 3 have been life changing. I have a fairly laid-back personality and I approach most situations in a calm and confident way. In December 2013, when our little girl was born, I literally felt a shift inside of me. Although my relaxed approach transcended into my Parenting style, there will always be a worry, niggling away at me constantly, reminding me that this little person, now the biggest thing in our lives, is small and vulnerable and prone to so many dangers that I cannot protect her from……..but I try not to think about that too often. In my role as a Paramedic I have experienced some amazing events, I have delivered 5 babies in the pre-hospital environment, and am thankful for the opportunities. Conversely, I have seen some things that aren’t so lovely and a proportion of which have involved Babies and Children. I do have both knowledge and experience of treating little ones in the emergency setting. As a Parent I feel that these experiences allow me to be reasonably confident in treating my own little one, if the situation were ever to arise. During my first months with our little girl I realised that not every Parent was as fortunate as me and that concerns over a little one injuring themselves or falling ill were very real dilemmas faced on a daily basis. Friends and some Family members would often ask me to run through how to perform CPR or how to help a choking little one and I would gladly show them. I began to realise that this was a very real issue and that there was little out there specialising primarily in Parental First Aid. So, in May 2015 Tumbles and Grumbles was born. I developed a 3-hour course offering Parents, Grandparents and Carers the chance to come along and gain some knowledge and hands-on practical experience of how to help the little ones in their lives, if they ever needed to. The response has been fantastic and I am so proud to be offering this service. Fast forward 10 months and here I am at the beginning of another very exciting journey…….Little Rescuers! Again, in my Paramedic role I have come across very small children helping their Parents, siblings or friends in an emergency situation, phoning 999, putting them into the recovery position and even performing basic life support interventions. I have always been in awe of these little ones, sometimes being able to perform tasks better than some adults, under immense pressure. I have never quite understood why First Aid is not on the curriculum in UK schools, in the same way it is in a lot of Europe and Australia. I was astounded last year, when my little girl was 17 months, and I turned around to see her breathing into one of my resuscitations dolls mouths and pumping on his chest, all from watching me do the same. We have built on this and she now understands how to call 999, what to say when asked for an address and how to help if someone is choking (link attached). She is 2 years and 3 months! I began to dig a little deeper into First Aid and children and I found an interesting link. Scandanavia have First Aid on their primary and secondary school curriculum. Norway have one of the biggest survival rates of pre-hospital cardiac arrests and in a lot of cases this has started with a bystander initiating CPR. More people just seem to know what to do…..and most importantly, have the confidence to do it! Then, I came across an innovative Norweigen study (attached), demonstrating that when First Aid was taught to 3-5 year old pre-schoolers, over a number of weeks, they were able to effectively give First Aid. When they were given the same situations, 6 months later, their performance was just as effective. The “Little Rescuers” seed was sown!! I started working closely with Early Years Practitioners and Primary School Teachers to not only draw on my own knowledge as a Paramedic and Parent, but on their invaluable experience too. “Little Rescuers” is now being rolled out in a number of Nurseries and Primary Schools in the North East, in a fun, creative and innovative course. Children are able to explore and learn whilst meeting many of the EYFS parameters. First Aid is a life-skill but more importantly can be very fun and when taught by experienced practitioners in the field of both Emergency First Aid and Education we can ensure the potential for life long benefits. As we always say at Tumbles and Grumbles:
“Their lives, your hands”!