When I was little, I was quite a frustrating and restless boy. I got to know that because my aunty always makes it a point to remind me my child took after me whenever I complain about how restless he can be. Knowing the kind of person he is, I had to take precautions by keeping a First Aid kit handy. For such a child, I can only hope his injuries will never be a serious one. However, injuries are certain.
I've known about the Red Cross and First Aid since when I was little but I practically didn't bother myself about it. I felt they were none of my business until a calamitous happening was avoided via the help of first aid. Since then, First Aid and its application has been front and centre of my plans to keep my family safe and sound.
On a very good evening, mom was cooking beans for dinner. While she was at it, my kid sister was with her in the kitchen. Mom was always careful whenever she's cooking and any of the kids were with her. But,
sometimes, what will surely be will be.
When the food was ready, she dropped the pot of beans and turned around to get a big spoon. It was a sharp, painful cry that drew her attention and mine to the direction of the pot - my kid sister somehow fell and had one of her hands dipped inside the steamy hot pot of beans. There was pandemonium.
While I stood there panicking, mom got her hands out of the pot, rinsed it with cold water and raced to the next house to ask for advice. She was told to apply, I think, a mixture of raw egg and pure honey generously on the hand to avoid scarring. One of our next door neighbours followed her home and helped in the process. Some first aid stuff was done and the egg-honey mixture was applied. And that was it. The pain subsided, the hand healed without any form of scars. Since then, I know how important first aid of any kind is.
I have even needed first aid on several occasions. The one I remember the most was when I sustained a head injury while in secondary school. I was playing with a friend when I sharply turned around only to meet the sharp edge of a metallic catcher. In an instant, I was soaked in my own blood. I was so scared to the point that I thought my head already had a hole so deep I could touch my brain. My friends calmed me down and took me to the health prefect.
The young bloke looked at me, got out a cotton wool to clean the wound, applied methylated spirit and some other stuff and then covered it up with a plaster. I was given some drugs to relieve the pain too. And that was how the basic contents of a first aid box saved me from a potentially painful injury. Since then, I don't joke with first aid. And in a country where self medication is the most common form of treatment, first aid has and continues to save lives.
