Welcome to my third blog post! A lot has happened since I last wrote and I feel like I have grown so much. Not only in what I have learned but as a person. I have always valued integrity and being a good person and bettering myself everyday is something I strive to do. During the last couple of days I have bettered myself and I am proud of the work me and the people I have come to call friends have accomplished. We officially completed our Wilderness Advanced First Aid training and I am now WAFA certified. All that hard work we have put in has a genuinely meaningful purpose because it could end up saving someone’s life.
During the last 4 days of WAFA training, we have strengthened our skill sets, widened our range of abilities, and took steps in order to learn how to conduct scene, primary, and secondary surveys all of which include measures that could mean the difference between life or death. Even though these skills, abilities, and processes that we learned were specific to our WAFA training and course certificate, many were applicable to the theories and ways of leadership we previously discussed.
One of the main types of leadership that began to show as our group began to grow as individuals but also as a community and a team is shared leadership. This leadership theory honestly encompassed one of the biggest types of leadership our group showed, especially during our one litter carry exercise. We had just began learning how to make litters in order to carry individuals that had been injured in the field and lost the ability to walk or would not be able to walk in order to prevent further injury. We then came to a scenario where I acted as the patient and the entire group which consists of 12 of us, had to do a human “litter carry,” so basically creating the litter with their hands in order to transport myself from one place to the actual litter. The group was tasked with moving me from outside to inside in one of the classrooms, then outside again onto the actual litter. The group performed phenomenally during the exercise without even the smallest guidance from our instructors. I saw the shared leadership theory come to life in front of me. It was a great feeling to see it and know that my team was able to safely carry and transport me from one place to another with little to no complications. There were 4 people on each side of me, with Ramsey holding my head in a position so my spine did not move, since in the scenario there was a possibility of a head or spinal injury. The others were directing or giving instruction on how to navigate the tight turns or objects that may have been in the way. There was even one point when Mitch’s shoe lace was untied and someone else who was directing asked them to pause and went to go tie his shoe so that the whole carry could continue safely. The entire task was a group effort and all of those involved participated and provided some input whether a gesture or verbally that helped the group to succeed. No one talked over one another and everyone gave it there all in order to reach the goal. This type of exercise and the outcome of it really showed how true shared leadership can emerge. While this was a really transformational moment for myself and the group, there were also many more moments during our training that were transferrable to leadership. Whether it was being able to take charge of a situation all on our own and help a patient out or taking a step back during group exercises or with a partner in order to think first about the most efficient way to accomplish something, overall benefiting the patient or group. All these things, and many more small instances that occurred helped me to better understand what kind of leader I can be while also seeing how those around me, my friends, became leaders in their own ways.
There was failure at times which helped us learn but there was also success. And when success was seen or heard it was followed by a great big “Shaabaash !!” which started from one of our instructors Akshay. In Hindi “Shaabaash!” means “Well Done!” so for every job well done, a “Shaabaash!” This phrase has now become a popular one among our group.
Tomorrow we begin to prepare for the backpacking portion of our program so the adventure is just beginning. I feel confident in myself and my friends and I am prepared for this next step in our journey. Shaabaash!!
