Delivering training in Ukraine ... #BecauseICan
The Sandstone team recently travelled to Poltava airbase in Eastern Ukraine to carry out First Aid training pro bono . The volunteers here are part of a helicopter evacuation unit and they are regularly the victim of airstrikes.
Rather than stick to a standard recommended schedule of training we listened to the volunteers and understood where we could have the biggest impact. We understood that the key need was to help them save as many lives as possible following an incoming airstrike.
We therefore not only covered how to use a tourniquet effectively and how to deliver CPR, we also devised training exercises that had the team practising these skills under pressure with the heart rate raised - simulating as far as possible real life conditions.
In addition we looked at the teams operating procedures and equipment to find out how we could cut down response times and enable more effective team work. This was then incorporated into the training.
Each of the 100 volunteers that we trained received just 4 hours of training (due to their operational constraints) and yet within 24 hours of leaving the base we received an email to say that since our training they had been the victim of drone strikes and without question our training had saved lives.