blood week

we underwent our first-aid training last week at the red cross youth center. here's my rundown of the events.

contrary to the what you may think, first-aid training is pretty boring. we spent the first day listening to the history of the organization in the humid and warm conference hall. unfortunately for me, i was seated in the back row, the place where ventilation from the ceiling fan cannot reach. i went to school with my shirt stuck all over my back. it was probably my fault anyway. back row people never get called by instructors for recitation, their last ditch effort to make their classses interesting.

next we got lessons on anatomy and basic first aid, which went pretty fast because we did have background information on it, being nursing students and all. no doubt our instructors were competent and knowledgeable, but we couldnt help wishing for lightning to strike them down so we could go home.

action came in the form of basic life-support (CPR) and case analysis. honestly, i think most of us will have mumps by the end of the week. so many details to remember!! and my braces always snagged the mannequins' mouths...

i totally botched up our case analysis by forgetting to assess my victim, who was a mountain of a man, with a knife stuck to his belly, spitting blood all over us. you dont really mind the dirt and the stain--all you'd like to do is save the victim, even though he is such a pain in the ass. anyways, my batchmates decided to be bystanders--not a comforting thought if you saw them rallying like indians around us. victim fainted and my first thought was get him to the hospital. in real-life that's what i would have done...but technically that wasnt real life. so even though my victim is dying i still have to assess him. way to go, you just dragged your team to the abyss of failure.

adrenaline, by the way, really works. practice sessions on lifting proved that we were not fit to lift a child much more a full-grown man. however, that day was a day of surprises. we lifted our victim up and for the first time, nobody wobbled and the victim didnt fall..XD

my jeans were drenched in blood (food coloring) and smudged with mud. i brought an extra shirt but for the love of God why my jeans!!!??? i went to school as is, claiming to have been attacked by dogs.

and finally, i donated 450 cc of blood to the blood bank. yes it hurts and yes i was nervous as hell. elation follows despair, when the big needle (it has to be big as it will prevent RBC destruction) is finally removed. my blood is off to save somebody's life and i am proud of it. its a nice thing to do, and i am hoping to return on June for the second voluntary donation. i'll take this time to plug: donate your blood to the blood bank. its safe and its potentially life saving--for you and others. for more information, visit red cross blood bank XD

so my week ends in a trail of blood, fake blood for that matter.