At Essex International Jamboree 2024, we are honoured to host St John Ambulance and their enthusiastic Youth Team, who have been delivering an invaluable session on lifesaving skills to Scouts and Guides in the Survival Zone. This engaging workshop showed how everyday items a Scout or Guide would carry with them such as neckers, t-shirts, or even shorts can be used to perform critical first aid techniques in a practical and accessible manner.

The team demonstrated how to make effective tourniquets using neckers or t-shirts and a pen or similar object like a stick. This technique is essential for controlling severe bleeding, particularly from limbs, but the same idea can also be applied to manage significant bleeding from other parts of the body, such as the chest or back. By employing these readily available materials, the instructors highlighted how quick thinking and resourcefulness can make a crucial difference in emergency situations.

In addition to tourniquets, the session covered the vital skill of placing an individual into the recovery position, ensuring that someone who is unconscious but breathing remains safe and stable until professional help arrives. Participants also received hands-on training in CPR, a life-saving technique that everyone had the opportunity to practise.

This informative and interactive workshop not only equipped our Scouts and Guides with essential first aid skills, but also empowered them with the confidence to respond effectively in emergencies and allow them to give a patient the best care possible.