Delivering Life Support Skills Training for local school leavers

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Shakespeare Lions run an active Life Support Skills training scheme for local school leavers.

This training includes how to assess and manage a collapsed casualty and then

how to carry out CPR, how to use a defibrillator and how to quickly

move someone into the recovery position.

We also train how to respond to choking incidents.

Pupils get hands-on experience with defibrillators, ‘choking jackets’ and

realistic adult, child and baby-sized mannequins.

Some fifteen club members help provide this training under the watchful eye

of a senior member of Stratford Ambulance Association.

We have now been running for over five years and are proud that

we have trained almost 1,200 students. We have particularly targeted school leavers

as they will shortly take their skills into the wider community.

In 2019 alone we trained nearly 300 Year 12 students from KES, Stratford School and

Stratford Girls Grammar School. In additional North Leamington School invited us to train 60+ Year 8 students and, in January 2020, almost 80 Year 9 students.

Another highlight of 2019 was helping Holy Trinity Church in Stratford to both

buy a defibrillator and then train church members in its use.

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We are committed to continuous improvement and are particularly grateful to

the Municipal Charities who granted some money towards the cost of new equipment

and ‘refresher’ training for our volunteers.

Now that ‘Emergency First Aid’, as yet undefined by the Government,

appears to be a compulsory requirement for senior schools,

we are considering extending the level of training we will give to students.

This will not only include our Life Support Skills but demonstrate how to respond to

burns, blood loss and other potentially severe medical conditions.

No training could be given after January 2020 due to COVID restrictions,

but Shakespeare Lions are still particularly motivated and will spring into action

as soon as the Government’s restrictions allow.