My Project
My Gold Award Project is about the idea of increasing emergency preparedness in schools. Here you can learn about the inspiration for my project, what I did for my project, and check out some fun pictures from my project.
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My Inspiration
Where did I get such inspiration to work on such a topic like emergency preparedness? Well, it all boils down to my most basic interests. My interests are biomedical science, medicine, and human anatomy (the body systems). With all three of these interests being so broad, I talked to the highest awards manager at Girl Scouts, and she helped me narrow down my ideas to the specific project that this website is all about. Another thing that inspired me to work on emergency preparedness was the Parkland School Shooting back in February of 2018. With all of the headlines flashing about how many students and faculty died and were injured as a result of the incident, it got me thinking, how many of the students and faculty that died would still be alive today had someone known how to help stop or slow bleeding to a point where help could take over? Since I or anybody else may never know the answer to that question, I decided that I wanted to find a way to train some of my own school's students and faculty in CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and First-Aid, specifically skills to stop bleeding. These skills could potentially be used in a school emergency, or any emergency out in the world.
Image Courtesy of Elegant Themes
What I Did
The two big things that I did for this project were planning and running a Hands-Only CPR class and a Emergency Supply Drive. To successfully be able to assist someone in the event where they either lost consciousness and stopped breathing, or they received such an injury to where they were heavily bleeding, someone needs to know how to handle both of those situations. Given, I hope no one has to ever use these skills, but life doesn't always work in the most forgiving ways. For the class, I made sure to include both teachers and students because there will be at least one person with the emergency preparedness skills to be able to help out in most parts of my school's building until professional help arrives. Also, should a teacher lose consciousness, there can be a student available to assist in that emergency, and vise versa. Another reasoning for the CPR and Stop the Bleed Class was that I had found out through talking with my principal that there is no requirement for teachers to know First-Aid and CPR, unless they are a coach for a sports team. Though I did not change any requirements for teachers at my school, I wanted to be sure that at least a few other teachers at least knew how to be able to help a student or fellow teacher in an emergency.
The other big event that I planned and had help running was the Emergency Supply Drive. This fell hand-in-hand with the Hands-Only CPR and Stop the Bleed class because this gave teachers the supplies they need and what they were trained how to use, should someone have an emergency in and around their classroom. Teachers, at least at Northglenn High School, are only supplied with a small baggie containing one size of Band-Aids, alcohol swabs, and plastic gloves. To me, this was unacceptable. What would a teacher do if their student were to accidentally cut themselves on a glass shard? A Band-Aid wouldn't always work in this situation, so I figured to organize a supply drive to collect first-aid items in addition to Band-Aids to supply teachers with tools to use if someone hurt themselves that required a little more than just a Band-Aid. I ran this drive with the assistance of the North Metro Fire Department, the same department that I brought to my school to teach the Hands-Only CPR and Stop the Bleed class. I provided them, as well as the students in my HOSA (Health Occupational Students of America) chapter club at school with a list of supplies that I was looking to obtain (see the Keep it Going tab for this list). Since there needed to be a kit for each classroom at school, as a club, myself and the HOSA students worked to sort all the supplies into the emergency kits that were placed in the classrooms at Northglenn High School.
The other big event that I planned and had help running was the Emergency Supply Drive. This fell hand-in-hand with the Hands-Only CPR and Stop the Bleed class because this gave teachers the supplies they need and what they were trained how to use, should someone have an emergency in and around their classroom. Teachers, at least at Northglenn High School, are only supplied with a small baggie containing one size of Band-Aids, alcohol swabs, and plastic gloves. To me, this was unacceptable. What would a teacher do if their student were to accidentally cut themselves on a glass shard? A Band-Aid wouldn't always work in this situation, so I figured to organize a supply drive to collect first-aid items in addition to Band-Aids to supply teachers with tools to use if someone hurt themselves that required a little more than just a Band-Aid. I ran this drive with the assistance of the North Metro Fire Department, the same department that I brought to my school to teach the Hands-Only CPR and Stop the Bleed class. I provided them, as well as the students in my HOSA (Health Occupational Students of America) chapter club at school with a list of supplies that I was looking to obtain (see the Keep it Going tab for this list). Since there needed to be a kit for each classroom at school, as a club, myself and the HOSA students worked to sort all the supplies into the emergency kits that were placed in the classrooms at Northglenn High School.
Project Photo Gallery
Photos courtesy of AnneMarie Harper at Girl Scouts of Colorado
Class took place at Northglenn High School in Colorado
Class took place at Northglenn High School in Colorado
Everything said on this website is true as of May 2019.