Happy Halloween!

We all love Halloween; from trick or treating to ghoulish parties, there is something for everyone.

Unfortunately, there are risks that everyone should be aware of around this time of year – particularly if you also have young children to consider. We have written this blog to highlight some of the risks associated with Halloween that don’t come down to scary characters such as witches or ghosts.

As big fans of Halloween, we want to ensure that everybody has fun whilst remaining vigilant and safe.

Trick or Treating Safely

Walk Safely

– Cross the street at corners, using zebra crossings and the green man where possible.

– Look left, right and left again when crossing the road and ensure you keep looking as you cross.

– Don’t look down at your phone or other electronic devices whilst walking, particularly when crossing the road.

– Always walk on the pavement.

– Keep an eye out for cars that are turning or parking. Teach children to never run out into the street or cross between parked cars.

Trick or Treat with an Adult

– Any children under the age of 12 should not be alone at night without adult supervision. If children are mature enough to be out trick or treating without adult supervision, they should be in familiar areas that are well lit and go out in groups.

– If children are old enough to go out on their own, walkie talkies are a great way to keep in touch and ensure that they are safe.

Other tips and tricks

– Consider giving your child a torch to carry and adding glowsticks to their costume to improve visibility

– Ensure that children bring all sweets home to check for choking hazards or allergies and that all sweets are wrapped.

– Tell children to respect neighbours and do not enter any house under any circumstance.

– Set a route and time for return.

Keep Costumes Safe

– As already touched on, decorate costumes and bags with reflective tape, stickers or glowsticks. Choose as light colours as possible.

– Do not obstruct vision – choose face paint and make up where possible rather than masks.

– Make sure the costumes fits to size to prevent slips, trips and falls.

– Ensure you choose a costume that is not flammable. There have been many horrifying cases where children or adult costumes have caught fire causing severe injuries. Halloween costumes are listed at toys and are not subjected to regulated clothing standards, which means that a child’s outfit does not have to be fireproofed to the regulated standard.

– Leave sharp and pointy props at home.

Driving Safely on Halloween

Even if you are not taking part in Halloween celebrations it is incredibly important to stay vigilant and drive safely.

– Drive slowly particularly in residential areas. Excitable children can move in unpredictable ways. Anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic.

– Take extra time to look for children at junctions, crossing the road and when parking.

– Enter driveways and lanes slowly and carefully.

– Eliminate any distractions inside your car e.g. loud music so that you can concentrate and the road and your surroundings.

– The most popular trick-or-treating hours are between 5:30 and 9:30 pm. So be especially alert for children during these hours.

So, there you have it, your guide to a safer Halloween. We’d love to hear from you about what you’ll be up to on Halloween – get in touch via twitter @ajuda_training. Remember to have fun, stay safe and have a very Happy Halloween!

Last week Ajuda ran a Level 3 award in Education and Training at our training academy in Cardiff Bay. The intensive course ran over 5 days.

The course covers the basics of teaching in further education. Topics covered on the course include; roles, responsibilities and relationships in education and training, inclusive approaches to teaching and learning, lesson planning, assessment, record keeping, use of resources, how to motivate learners, communication and questioning skills, legal requirements and the development of English, Maths and ICT skills.

Our delegates also successfully delivered 20 minute micro-teaches at the end of the course.

“Great fun and a great experience – I learnt so much” said delegate, Ross.

The delegates delivered micro-teaches on a huge variety of topics such as, how to peel a banana, how to make a cup of tea, sexual education and how to put on a condom correctly, how to make a paper aeroplane, customer service skills and mental health and wellbeing.

Delegate, Daisy, said that “the atmosphere on the course was consistently welcoming and inclusive. The tutor, Menna, ensured that everyone respected each other and was comfortable throughout the week. Although we all had varying levels of experience in teaching and training (I had none), we were all brought up to the same level and I left feeling confident in delivering a lesson. A sometimes challenging but overall fantastic week. I would 100% recommend this course to anyone who is looking to start training.”

Although the week was incredibly challenging and intensive for the delegates, they absolutely smashed it. Ajuda are proud to have trained 4 brilliant teachers ranging from, first aid trainers, an SIA trainer and a mental health awareness trainer. Good luck in the future everyone!

For more information about the Level 3 award in Education and Training qualification, please see here.

Ajuda are excited to be giving away a FREE defibrillator at The National Education Show in Cardiff City Hall on 13^th October. Visit us at stand 120 to enter our prize draw and potentially win a life-saving defibrillator for your school.

A defibrillator is an important piece of equipment that can truly help to save a life by giving a high energy electric shock to the heart in certain types of cardiac arrest. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) alone raises a person’s chance of survival from a cardiac arrest to 4%; CPR combined with the use of an AED can increase the chance of survival to 74%.

If you are attending The National Education Show next week, please come along to our stand and get involved.

Watch our video to see what our MD, Dawn, has to say about the exciting giveaway:

The National Education Show launches in Cardiff on the 13^th October at Cardiff City Hall. Ajuda are excited to be exhibiting at the show – you can find us at stand 120. One of our trainiers will also be talking about Fire Safety.

Mike Pratt

We are pleased to announce that Ajuda trainer, Mike, will be speaking at The National Education show. His seminar will be about fire safety and precautionary measures within a school environment.  Mike is a retired fireman with 30 years of first-hand experience behind him.  At the show he will be demonstrating to attendees how they can keep their school safe by preventing any potential fire hazards. During his talk, Mike will take you through the importance of a safe escape plan, the use of fire extinguishers and dealing with the aftermath of a school fire.

Although the number of school fires has been in decline since 2001 (from 1,600 to 600 school fires per year), if a fire does occur, the impact can be devastating. Mike will guide you through the implications of school fires such as the immediate aftermath and the longer-term issues. He will talk about how these will effect staff, students and parents alike. For example, casualties, school closures or relocation.  All schools must ensure that fire precautions comply with all relevant health and safety, including The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, and The Education (School Premises) Regulations 2012.

Want to know more?

For more information about booking on to Mike’s talk or attending the show in general, please contact Trudy on 029 2240 0382 or nationaleducationshow@gmail.com

For information about booking Fire Safety and the Role of the Fire Marshal training for your school, please contact Daisy on 029 2057 6883 or admin@ajuda.org.uk

Here at Ajuda we think that introducing first aid lessons to the school curriculum is a fantastic idea.

Across the UK there are 8.4 million pupils enrolled in schools – this makes up 10% of the population! Currently, there is no obligation to teach students first aid skills within British schools. We believe that everybody should have the opportunity to learn how to save a life.

In 2015, The British Red Cross* stated that 91% of students would like to have the opportunity to learn life-saving skills in first aid training.

There are countless stories in the news every year about children becoming life-savers. Often, children find themselves alone with a parent who goes into cardiac arrest, a friend who has a fall, a grandparent who becomes unconscious, and many more scary scenarios.  In these instances, children are expected to make important life-changing decisions.

With training from a young age for all children, these situations may seem more manageable and there will be even more success stories in the news about young people administering emergency first aid and saving someone’s life. Teaching children these skills can only be time and resources well spent. Young people will feel empowered and more confident in their ability to help someone in an emergency.

According to The Statement on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Automated External Defibrillators and Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest** from the Welsh Government at the end of last year, the Welsh Government is fully supportive of helping young people to acquire life-saving skills and how to administer first aid in an emergency.

At the moment, all young learners in Wales are only able to learn about emergency first aid procedures through Personal and Social Education (PSE) which is part of the basic curriculum for all registered pupils. However, first aid is not a mandatory module in PSE. Whilst the basis of the subject is to give learners a balances programme that teaches them practical life-skills, unfortunately, including first aid is optional. Many, many children go without learning these basic skills during their PSE lessons.

Looking to the future, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, has accepted the recommendation of the ‘Successful Futures’ report written by Prof. Graham Donaldson. In this report, Prof. Donaldson identifies 6 Areas of Learning and Experience that are central to the new curriculum, one of these is Health and Wellbeing. He states that the curriculum should support children and young people to become health, confident individuals.

What happens now?

It’s time that the government commit to making first aid a compulsory part of the curriculum. In February of this year, Assembly Members such as, Suzy Davies, backed proposals to ensure that all children get trained in life-saving skills as part of their school education. They also addressed the need for making first aid equipment and defibrillators available in as many public spaces as possible.

Over the years, Ajuda has been approached by many schools who have used their own initiative to organise first aid training for pupils. Ajuda have taught many students first aid skills such as, CPR, the use of defibrillators and bleeding. We have also done a lot of training for pupils taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme.

We offer competitive prices for first aid training in schools. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us on 029 2057 6883 or admin@ ajuda.org.uk

*http://www.redcross.org.uk/About-us/News/2017/March/Red-Cross-first-aid-government-PSHE

**http://gov.wales/about/cabinet/cabinetstatements/2016-new/ouofhospitalcardiacarrest/?lang=en

This week in the news there have been 2 recent incidents in the UK involving children being bitten by dogs. It is estimated that over 200, 000 people a year are bitten by dogs and other animals. Animal bites and scratches that break the skin can damage tissues and let germs into the skin, for this reason you must treat any bite that breaks the skin to stop it from getting infected.

Bites from animals can be quite jagged as well as being at risk of infection. It is advised to get any bite that has punctured the skin looked at by a medical professional because quite often the wound may not look too serious, however, the bite can penetrate deeply and inject infected matted under the skin. For example, if the wound is red and becomes inflamed (hot or angry looking), the casualty will need antibiotics; if the wound is particularly large, the casualty may need stitches.

A severe infection that is commonly associated with animal bites is rabies.  Rabies is a serious viral infection that attacks the brain and the nervous system.  The virus is passed on through the saliva of an infected animal when they bite a human. Almost all cases of rabies occur abroad.   Another potential risk after an animal bite is a bacterial infection called tetanus. It is rare that animal bites can lead to these infections. Most infections come from bites from wild animals such as dogs, bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes.

Prevention!

Many animal bites can be prevented from occurring. Many are provoked. Always keep a close eye on children around animals (even pets!).  Teach them to be gentle around animals and not to tease them, and to stay away from wild or stray animals. Not all dogs that bite or scratch are aggressive many react because they are nervous for example, their space has been invaded, there has been a loud noise or a quick, unexpected movement.

Treat dogs with respect. Do not approach them suddenly or interrupt them when they are eating or sleeping. Avoid stroking unfamiliar dogs and, when greeting a dog for the first time, let it sniff you before touching it.

What to do

When someone is bitten by an animal there are certain steps and precautions that must be taken.

– Wash the bite area with soap and warm water to reduce the risk of infection.

– Raise and support the wound and gently pat it dry.

– If the bite is bleeding, apply pressure with clean gauze from your first aid kit (you can use a clean cloth if you do not have access to a first aid kit)

– If the bleeding has stopped you can apply antibiotic ointment.

– Once clean, cover the wound with a sterile wound dressing (gauze or a bandage).

– Offer the person who has been bitten ibuprofen for pain relief

It is important to reassure the casualty and to be aware that you may need to treat them for shock.

Seek medical care if:

– the bite was from:

a wild or stray animal

a pet that isn’t up-to-date on rabies shots

an animal that is acting strangely

– the bite has broken the skin or if the wound is large or deep, treat for bleeding (apply pressure and cover the wound) and call 999/112 for an ambulance

– the bite is on the face, head, neck, hand, foot, or near a joint

– a bite or scratch becomes red, hot, swollen, or increasingly painful

– you think there is a risk of rabies (you need to get them to hospital as fast as you can)

– the wound is dirty

– your child (or the person bitten) is behind on shot or has not had a tetanus shot within 5 years

We are big dog lovers over at Ajuda HQ so we have collected this information to help people avoid getting in a situation where they are bitten by a dog (or other animals). We strongly advise that all parents have an accessible first aid kit with them that they use in the case of an emergency such as an animal bite. If you are interested in learning more first aid skills, we run open courses every month. For more information please contact us on 029 2057 6883 or email daisy@ajuda.org.uk.