PCF Sparkletots @ Tampines Central Blk 868A has partnered Singapore Red Cross (SRC) for its Start Small Dream Big (SSDB) project this year. Through the project, the Centre hopes to inculcate the values of respect and kindness in children.
Under the partnership with SRC, K1 and K2 children are enrolled in the Red Cross Junior (RCJ) programme, which offers them training on basic first aid and disaster management. Earlier in April this year, SRC trainers had visited the Centre with RCJ Mascot Henry and introduced the children to basic bandaging.
On 21 May 2024, the Centre organised a visit to the Red Cross Campsite for some 75 K1 and K2 children who had signed up for the RCJ Humanitarian Trail. SRC trainers engaged the children in many activities during the 2-hour programme. Besides a photo session with RCJ Mascot Bravo, there were informative sharing sessions on choking, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), automated external defibrillator (AED), water filtration and the GO bag (Get Out bag) - a portable kit packed with essentials for ready deployment in case of fire, blackout and other home emergencies. The highlight was of course the hands-on practice sessions where the children put the basic first aid skills they had picked up to the test, applying abdominal thrusts to dislodge foreign objects from the airway of ‘choked victims’ and performing CPR chest compressions to revive ‘unconscious and breathless casualties’. In the last activity, they had to pump ‘muddy and dirty water’ through potable water filtration pumps to turn it into drinkable water, and transport it to another location.
While many children may not remember the first aid and disaster management skills being taught or be able perform them correctly in an emergency situation, the Humanitarian Trail experience is not lost if it has helped to inculcate in them the caring mindset. Underlying a gracious and caring society is the willing and readiness of its people to step forward, show care and concern, and offer assistance to those in need of help.
Children practising CPR and using the AED on ‘unconscious casualties’
Children applying the abdominal thrust and pumping water through the filtration pump
Children posing for a group photograph with RCJ Mascot Bravo
