Emergency alert for students

Founder and Managing Trustee of Alert, Rajesh R. Trivedi, demonstrating Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) for students at an first-aid responder training workshop in Chennai.

Alert, an emergency response management organisation, is going to conduct ‘First-Aid’ training workshops in city schools this academic year. Called ‘Alert @ School’, the programme has been designed specifically for school students and teachers.

Simple modules

Through this programme, Alert will train teachers, who will in turn teach their students everyting they need to know about golden hour care and emergency response. The curriculum has been designed to impart knowledge through regular classroom sessions.

Nalini Ravindran, Head-Training, Alert, said: "We have collaborated with TACT Academy for Clinical Training, Anna Nagar West, Chennai, for the school programme. Teachers will be trained by volunteers from Alert, and trained paramedics and nurses from Tact."

The programme content is made up of simple modules, and a workbook, to make the sessions interesting and learning fun. The organisation has trained Standard IX students of A.M.M. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Kotturpuram, as part of the School Safety Club activities.

Apart from this, Alert has conducted ‘First-aid responder training workshops’ in government schools.

On the Club Culmination Activity Day, the students shared their experiences, and performed street plays and puppetry shows to create awareness on first-aid, Nalini added.

This year, Alert will conduct classes on first-aid in A.M.M. School, St. John’s International Residential School, Palanjur, and Kumararani Meena Muthiah Higher Secondary School, Adyar.

Nalini is of the view that first-aid should be made part of the curriculum, as in western countries.

Until now, Alert has trained 23, 500 volunteers, and has conducted workshops in Bangalore, Puducherry, Tiruvannamalai, and Tiruchi and Kodaikanal.

“We also train the volunteers in overcoming fear, anxiety, and reluctance to help victims in times of medical emergency. Our aim is to train each member in a family to be a first respondent. A first respondent plays a crucial role in the golden hour, till medical/ambulance help arrives”, she pointed out.

From the next academic year, the voluntary organisation aims to start classes on “self-preservation and safety”.

For details, contact Alert at 9944066002.