Young responders

HERM schoolchildren have completed their Young First Aider training with St John Ambulance.

You are in safe hands anywhere on Herm, with more first responders on the island than ever before. Now the little ones have got in on the action, any scraped knees or bumped heads in the playground can be ably dealt with.

Trainer Katie Sweeney comes over every year to train the eight children of school age. It is surprising just how much they are able to learn and put into practice at such young ages.

This time they ventured out of the classroom to face hazards out and about on the island. These were as varied as finding a person unconscious, encountering a nosebleed or getting an insect stuck in an ear.

In a small place like Herm, where the children wander freely, it is a real possibility that they could find themselves the first on an accident scene. Teaching them these basic skills early on could make it second nature for them to know how to react in an emergency with no adult help at hand.

The children acted out scenarios where one child was afflicted with a particular problem or injury and the others treated them in the appropriate way.

They now know what to do in incidents of choking, poisons, how to treat burns, how to stop bleeding, treatment for asthma, bee stings and fainting and the recovery position, among other things.

Every child was awarded a certificate for completing the Young First Aider course, parts one and two.

This week the children were also treated with a visit from 'the origami man'.

The enigmatic man is actually a guest named Mike Guy.

Mr Guy stays every year at the White House Hotel and always spends a day in school teaching the children the Japanese art of paper-folding.

It is lovely when guests are able to come to the school to do something a little bit different and this is one visit the children always look forward to.

No matter how well they get to know Mr Guy, he will always remain the mysterious 'origami man'.