I didn’t actually break my leg!
For the past several days, the Leadership in the Himalayas program has been undergoing training in Wilderness Advanced First Aid (WAFA). This training will not only prepare us for our 10-day trek, but also for any other time we can provide first aid. Wilderness in this case applies to any situation in which definitive medical care is not close. That means it could be in the woods far from society, or in the middle of a big city if medical care cannot easily be reached for any reason. Because of this large scope, these skills are extremely transferable and I’m grateful to have learned how to help in these stressful situations.
On top of the medical knowledge I’ve gained, this training has further developed my leadership skills. To be successful in first aid settings, we’ve needed to utilize strong communication skills, teamwork skills, delegation of tasks, working under pressure, adaptive thinking, and seeing the whole picture. Without all of these skills, providing first aid would be significantly less efficient and effective. Especially when working in teams. For all the scenarios we played out, we worked in teams of at least two to provide immediate care to our “fake” patients. The skills listed above proved vital in administering effective care. In this blog, I will elaborate on communicating skills and delegation of tasks.
First, let’s look at communication. Communication is the ability to effectively communicate a message between individuals or to groups. In the WAFA training, we needed to communicate both with our first aid responder teammate as well as to the patient to ensure everyone knew what was going on. Without effective communication, important steps might be skipped and/ or the wrong treatment might end up being applied. For example, when working in a scenario with a patient suffering of heat stroke, I was able to communicate with my teammate to relieve some of the patient’s symptoms as well as brainstorm possible courses of action. This is applicable to everyday life because communication is the cornerstone of any relationship (whether that communication be verbal or nonverbal). It is crucial to be able to communicate with others in order to get almost any task handled well.
Next, let’s focus on delegation of tasks. I typically don’t have to think about the delegation of tasks in my everyday life. At Pitt as a computer science major, there is very little teamwork, so I rarely encounter situations where I’d need to delegate tasks. In WAFA, it is very important to be able to efficiently delegate tasks. Whether it’s a equally or more trained individual, you need to delegate tasks to others (such as calling an ambulance) in order to provide the fastest and most effective care you can. In most practice scenarios, my teammate and I split up tasks to more quickly complete the necessary steps. For example, while I’m checking the airway, breathing, circulation, etc, my teammate can be asking the patient questions to better ascertain the situation and best next steps. If we both try doing the same thing at the same time, it would be extremely inefficient and waste valuable time in the golden hour of patient life. This skill is also highly applicable. In terms of leadership. An effective leader should be able to delegate tasks to others and not have to do everything themselves. Without this skill, a team is unlikely to move forward at a comparable pace to other more distributed teams.
We have one more day of WAFA training. Then it’s time to prepare for the 10-day trek! I’ll have another update for you tomorrow before I disappear for 10 days. Thanks for reading!
