Scoutmaster Minute

Keep Your Cool Scouts, I have a sort of trick question for you. Think before you answer. What's the most important thing for a first aider to do? Call for help? No, that's often very important, but it's not the first. Check for breathing? No - again, that's obviously vital, but it's not the fist thing. The most important thing to do is this: Stay cool. Don't act in a panic. Think first! Often you must act fast when a person needs first aid. But think first! That's not always easy to do in a real-life accident or serious illness, but it is essential. It's easy to be calm and cool when we're practicing first aid here in the troop room. It's not so easy when an accident victim is not breathing or when blood is spurting out of a severed artery. In those situations you must act fast. But begin training yourself now to stay cool and think before you take action. Then if you're ever in a real crisis situation, you will remember the first aider's first rule - stay cool and think.