Alerting the emergency medical services

• Gold Wolf - First Aid: Know and explain how to activate the Emergency Medical Services in your neighbourhood.

Just as it is important to know how to summon adult help, you must know how to alert the emergency medical services. Find out the numbers of emergency services like ambulance, fire brigade, police, and the nearest hospital and doctor. Write them on a small card, and waterproof the card with plastic. Always keep the card with you, in your pocket or in your emergency kit. Make sure your emergency numbers are always correct and up to date.

At home or school and at Cubs, you have learnt what to do in emergencies and practiced fire drill and possibly other drills too. Other emergencies you might come in contact with are accidents, flooding, drowning, robbery, and someone getting lost.

Now that you are one of the older Cubs, you should be able to play a reliable role in some of these emergencies. This means that you will know what to do and set an example to younger Cubs.

Some of the most important rules in any emergency are:

• Do not panic - remain calm and confident.
• Before doing anything, look at the situation and pan what you could do, and the order in which to do things.
• If you are able to help, do what you can, but remember ALWAYS to send for adult help.

Akela will possibly arrange for you to join in an exercise which depicts some emergency, and you will be expected to behave correctly. Throughout our lives, it is very important that we know what to do in an emergency. Think about possible emergencies that you could face, and work out what you should and could do in each case.

Notes for Pack Scouters

As a Scouter, you will know if there are emergency medical services in your area, or the best way for your Cubs to get help in the case of an emergency. Ensure that your information is always up-to-date and that all emergency numbers are prominently placed somewhere at your Pack meeting place. In order to practise this activity you can:

• Play a game that involves a telephone (a real one or a toy phone). Tell the Cub about an accident that has happened and ask them to call for help. They must dial correctly, pass on a message, and wait by the phone in case the service phones back to check if the call is genuine.
• For those occasions where there will be no telephone available, have a play acting time where the Cub, being given the details of the accident, will tell you where they would get help and then role-play the message they would pass on to the person who could help them.

Note that although training and revision is preferably done in a practical manner, first aid should never be regarded as a game just for fun. It is a serious matter and a great responsibility for those who can give the service.