Greenbank Primary: First Aid Brought to Life is a narrative non-fiction that tells a story of a town called Humphrington, a school called Greenbank Primary and the Matthews family engaging with family, friends and teachers.
The main theme throughout the book is: ‘What can you, as a 10-12 year old person, do to give first aid in a medical emergency?’ What are the simple key actions that you could take to help someone recover from a serious asthma attack, seizure, sever wound, broken limb and even drowning and cardiac arrest? Given that success rates in the UK for survival outside of hospital for cardiac arrest are below 10% there is a need for knowledge especially at a young age. Countries that invest in training young children in life saving skills have far better survival rates. This book aims for improvement.
The other mission of the book is to make learning fun. The characters in the stories are developed and believable. There is humour and reality. Having been in senior leadership roles in schools for over 33 years I have experience of them. All too often people have a view of first aid as being ‘boring’ or ‘stuffy’ and not particularly engaging. As an instructor I have plenty of feedback saying that my training is interesting and involves real life scenarios which makes it easier to learn. This is reflected in this book. It is engaging to the intended audience and beyond. This is, of course, enhanced by the superb artwork from Maggie Kneen whom I am so lucky to know.
I really do hope that this book does make a contribution to children’s knowledge and interest in life saving. As adults, to not have the same level of fear and to be armed with skills to tackle life threatening events to a successful conclusion surely is something to aim for.
I left school at 14 years old with no qualifications. I worked at Pilkington Tiles, the rag trade in Manchester and went to night school. I retired a few years ago having had a successful career as a senior leader in high schools in Kirkby, Bolton, Blackburn and Oldham. My first CPR was my friend John at the age of 18 who went into cardiac arrest after an incident in a rugby match. Since then I have saved a few people’s lives. I am now a life support trainer in the NHS and run a successful first aid training company. I have helped deliver the clinical skills programme at University of Manchester Medical School. I am in training to be a first responder for NWAS. I am a very lucky man to have the brilliant support of my loving wife, Catherine, without which none of this would be possible.
Greenbank Primary: First Aid Brought to Life by Malcolm Sweetlove is available for pre-order now!
www.malcolmsweetlove.com
