Sophomores Fritz Siegert and Sofia Infante are on a mission.
They want Whitman students to be prepared and willing to act when they see someone in a medical emergency.
“At a party if someone collapses, a doctor or a nurse won’t be there, but a student will,” explained Siegert, president of the student health advisory council.
This is the idea behind the first aid certification course that SHAC is bringing to campus on Saturday, Nov. 14. Offered by the Red Cross and sponsored by SHAC, the first aid certification will be available for up to 50 students. Usually offered at $30, SHAC is asking students for only $5, thanks to ASWC sponsorship.
Rebecca Abenroth of the Red Cross will be helping put on the event.
“There are some really simple things that you can almost always do to help stabilize someone until help comes,” said Abenroth. She stressed that the course is primarily intended to help students stabilize an injured or sick person until professional help can arrive.
“You won’t be doing surgery on the street,” she said. “Call 911. The most important thing you can do is call for help.”
For Siegert, the first aid clinic is a stepping stone to increasing health awareness and emergency preparedness on campus.
“The two other events we had were fundraisers and I thought with a first aid clinic this is something that could tangibly affect health,” said Siegert.
Senior David Protter, who received first aid training as part of his Wilderness First Responder certification, has seen the value of students knowing how to respond to injuries in his time with Whitman’s Ultimate team.
“I’ve definitely seen people at Frisbee tournaments get seriously hurt, and if there aren’t medical personnel there it’s certainly nice to feel like you can be responsible,” Protter said, while also noting that he has appreciated being confident in his ability to care for people who may get hurt on the Sherwood climbing wall, where he teaches.
SHAC hopes to give students the opportunity to advance the training they receive Saturday with future clinics.
“We may do stuff at the Health Center; we were thinking we could help people learn a little higher-end stuff [later on],” said Siegert.
For now, helping get students better prepared for any problems that may arise is on the forefront of the agenda. The clinic will focus on recognizing and responding to emergencies. It will teach students how to control bleeding, identify the signals of head, neck and back injuries and how to care for them and how to prioritize care for injuries and sudden illnesses, among other tasks. The course lasts for about four hours, at the end of which students receive first aid certification.
“Within the Whitman population, as within any population, it’s about your awareness and knowing your surroundings, who to call, what to do,” said Infante.
