What if I ain't no violinist?

19. Twoset First Aiders

"Welcome to the St Paul's First Aid course.  My name is Brett and I'm your instructor for the day.  So, how about a round of introductions?  Your name, what you do and why you've enrolled in this course.  How about we start from.. this gentleman over here ?"

"Huh?  Oh, okay, um, hi, my name is Eddy, I'm a new teacher and I'm here because I need my first aid certificate to take students out on excursions."

"Great!   Is this your first time or are you here for a refresher and reassessment ?"

"First time."

"Okay, I hope you enjoy the course!"

"Hey Eddy.  How did you find the morning session?"

"Oh, hi Brett.  Um.. there was a lot to take in."

"Yeah.  Even after the 4 hour online study you do beforehand, there's still tonnes to get through before the assessment."

"Yep, my brain is fried."

"Would you like a coffee?  We've got a coffee machine in our tea room."

"That would be great, thanks."

"Hey Eddy, welcome back.  Did you have a nice lunch?"

"Hi Brett, yeah, that dumpling place you suggested was fantastic, thanks."

"You're back early, we still have about 15 minutes till we start the afternoon session."

"Yeah, I thought I'd practice my bandaging and slings, I really sucked at it."

Brett smiled.

"You're a model student Eddy, so keen.  Oops, sorry, I just remembered you're actually a teacher."

"I suppose we make the best students."

Brett grinned.

"Hey Eddy, do you want a hand?  I could give you a quick refresher on how to do the bandaging and slings?"

"Really? That would be great, thanks!"

"Welcome back to the afternoon session everyone, we're now going to do some CPR practice."

The students looked overwhelmed with the sight of the CPR mannequins in front of them.

"Look, it's not as bad as it looks, guys. So, do we remember what we need to do first ?"

Brett revised the steps of action when they encounter a situation that may require CPR. He then showed them how to place the face shield on top of the mannequin, how to place their hands on the sternum of the mannequin in preparation of giving 30 chest compressions.  As the students kneeled down next to their respective mannequins, Brett started his compressions as he sang;

"Row row row your boat, gently down the stream.."

Eddy lifted an eyebrow as he listened to Brett's slightly off-tune singing.  It did help Eddy stay on a steady rhythm for the compressions though.  Eddy estimated that the tempo was meant to be at about 100 beats per minute.  After 30 compressions, Brett told everyone to stop and give 2 breaths to their mannequin.

"OK, repeat what we just did!! I'm coming around to check on how everyone's going!"

Eddy started his chest compressions as he gently hummed a classical music piece with a tempo of 100 bpm.

Eddy didn't notice Brett was right in front of him until he kneeled down next to him.

"Eddy?"

Eddy stopped what he was doing and looked towards him.