Student learning tips to help you get the most from your Emergency First Response® first aid class and lessons.
1. Course students need not focus on perfection.
A common misconception with emergency care is that the smallest error will hurt or kill a patient. This is seldom true. If you focus on perfection, there is a tendency to do nothing in a real emergency because you will fear not doing everything 'perfectly'. You should not get caught in that trap - it is not hard to provide adequate care. Always remember - Adequate care provided is better than perfect care withheld.
2. Course participants should not feel intimidated.
You are learning something new, so do not be surprised if you are not immediately comfortable with a skill or need some guidance. If you already knew how to do it, you would not need to get trained. Mistakes are not a problem because making a few errors is an important part of learning.
3. Have fun during the course.
That may sound a little odd to some students given the seriousness of what you are learning. But the truth is you learn more and learn faster if you and your classmates keep things light. We also respectfully remind students to wear clothing that is appropriate for floor-based exercises.
4. Be decisive and then act.
There is more than one way to help a person who is injured or ill. When you practice the scenarios, you find that circumstances do not always give you a clear direction in exactly how to best apply the priorities of care.
5. It all comes back.
When you are practicing the scenarios, you may notice that as you follow the priorities of care explained in all Emergency First Response courses, the things you 'forgot' come back to you - not necessarily smoothly at first, but adequately so that you are capable of providing emergency care. Remember that feeling. If you ever faced a real emergency and have doubts about remembering what to do, recall this feeling. Regardless of what you do or do not do, remember when helping someone in need that “Adequate care provided is better than perfect care withheld.”
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