by Hamza Kamrudin YES ’20
I led Basics of First Aid: Skills for Life 2025, a three-day training and assessment project aimed at equipping young people with essential first aid and life-saving skills. The project was implemented in partnership with St. John Ambulance Kenya, who provided a certified trainer to support the training.
During the sessions, I ensured participants were trained in Basic Life Support (BLS), including incident and casualty management, primary and secondary surveys, CPR, and the Heimlich maneuver. We also covered the management of traumatic injuries such as severe bleeding, fractures, and burns. The training combined both theory and hands-on practice, using resources such as first aid dummies, triangular bandages, dressings, and roller bandages. All participants actively practiced and demonstrated the skills taught.
The training took place on 4th and 5th October 2025, followed by an assessment on 11th October 2025 at the St. John Ambulance Headquarters. A total of 50 participants benefited directly from the project, including 40 students from the University of Nairobi drawn from various schools within the Faculty of Health Sciences, and 10 volunteers, made up of 5 YES alumni and 5 First Aid Club members.
The main objective of this project was to equip participants with practical first aid skills that they could apply within their schools, universities, and local communities during emergencies. I am proud to report that all participants attended the training punctually, successfully passed the assessment, and were officially licensed as First Aiders by St. John Ambulance Kenya. Additionally, the 40 university students went on to join the First Aid Club at the University of Nairobi, helping to expand and strengthen the first aid community.