Pauline Etienne
20 November 2007
Port Louis — Last Friday, the Fellowship First-Aiders Association received the town medal from the town of Beau-Bassin-Rose-Hill. An acknowledgement of its contribution to educating for young people.
Members of the Fellowship First-Aiders association do not want to overload pupils with knowledge. The syllabus is adapted to their age and level so that they can have fun while learning how to help their fellows if they are hurt or have a basic health problem at school.
Their contribution has been officially recognised. The municipality of Beau-Bassin-Rose-Hill has awarded one of the town medals to the Fellowship First-Aiders. "This is an encouragement for us to continue our campaign - but it should also be an encouragement for young people to realise how important first aid is and motivate them to join us," said Denis Grandport, the founder and president of the non-governmental organisation.
Young people are the main target of this voluntary association. "Because today's young people will be the citizens of tomorrow", the president commented. The 20 trainers of the association share the task of providing basic first aid training in primary and secondary schools. "We used to train only secondary pupils but we recently started in primary schools as well and the response is extraordinary," Denis Grandport told l'express.
The idea is to educate young people about the first actions to be taken if someone is hurt and show them what first aid is exactly. "The syllabus has been specifically designed for them. We have adapted the programme to their age and level so that they can get the most of this training. " This specific programme, called Junior Fellows" is aimed at showing pupils the different types of wounds and how to treat simple cases.
"Many children hurt themselves at school and pupils could be trained to help their class-mates . But they first need to know what to do", explained the organisation's founder. First degree burns or nose bleeding are among problems that pupils should be able to cope with after the training.
The training period consists of one hour every week over five weeks for secondary schools and 20 minutes per week in primary schools. "We can't overload these pupils with too much training because they already have so much to do. Explanations must remain very simple so that they grasp them easily", said Denis Grandport.
"Such courses are part of the larger notion of education and it could be the school's duty to meet these requirements. Teachers would then have to be trained accordingly."
Teachers also seize the opportunity of the association's visit to schools to be trained in first aid. Such knowledge is compulsory for pre-primary teachers, while it is up to each individual to get proper training at the higher level. For the president of Fellowship First-Aiders, this is not good enough and all teachers should be given proper training to be able to respond to such needs at school.
This is one of the reasons that led him to set up this organisation ten years ago. "There has always been a lack in the sector and it is still the case today." He would be happy to see the setting up of two or three additional organisations providing first aid training to fill the gap. Even with its 450 or so members, the association can't cover the needs of the whole island - even though two other organisations are involved in providing the same services.
Such courses are part of the larger notion of education and it could be the school's duty to meet these requirements. Teachers would then have to be trained accordingly. It could be part of citizenship education that is still an informal subject at school.
But such courses may also be part of the future national service programme, which was discussed in Cabinet last March. The idea of that programme was to give special training to school-leavers to help them become responsible citizens. Training in first-aid could be one of the aspects of a wider programme to help the younger generation fit into working and social life.
Beyond school boundaries
â- Fellowship First-Aiders' role does not stop after school. Their objective is to train one First-Aider in each Mauritian family. "We want to develop a culture of mutual assistance and it is true that it is easier with young people", Denis Grandport acknowledged.
However, the duties of the NGO go further. They often hold public lectures in community centres and provide training - at various levels - for any Mauritian who wants to gain such knowledge. "Many of us do not know what to do in case of a fracture, for instance. There is a risk that the person suffers more if no one knows what action to take. First Aid training can help minimise suffering, take rapid action and relieve the pain," the president pointed out. The number of road accidents has also led the association to provide special training for such cases. The president also emphasises that a first aid case as well as a fire extinguisher should be made compulsory in every private car.
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