In middle school, I had to get used to going to several different classes.
Penny and I met at one of our houses to do homework and talk almost everyday. We were up early Saturday to get the first bus to the college.
As soon as we found the room, the teacher, a tall slender man, came up to us. “You must be the ones auditing the course. You look pretty young to need Wilderness First Aid and Rescue.”
“I’m 11, sir, and we’re in the wilds all the time,” I said.
“At least one day a week,” Penny said. “Almost everyday during vacations.”
“Hmm. You know that being able to swim is a prerequisite of the course?”
“Yes, Sir,” I said.
“How for can you swim?”
“A mile or more.” I didn’t count my test day when I was already tired.
“Hmm. What stroke?” he asked.
“Front crawl. Bilateral breathing.”
“Well. But this will be in a lake, you understand.”
“Oh. I’m not really used to lake swimming.”
“I thought so,” he said.
“I’ve done almost all my swimming in the inlet,” I continued.
“You
have?”
“Yes, Sir. To the channel buoy and back.”
“Hmm. And you? You look even younger.”
“I’m nine,” Penny said.
“Swim?”
“About two miles.”
“In the . . .”
“Yes, Sir. In the inlet. Front crawl, bilateral.”
“Well. I guess you’re in the class.”
“Thank you, Sir!” we both said, grinning.
We found seats. There were 15 people in the class, and no one else was under about 20.
“Okay, everybody,” the teacher began, “we are going to move very quickly.
I do not recommend you take written notes — most people find I teach too fast and they miss half of it. There are several good books you can use, and I expect all of you to have one available. They are here on the table to look at during break or lunch.”
Penny looked at me.
“I’ll buy one and we can share it,” I whispered.
“This class is different from your usual first aid class. They tell you a few things to do before you contact the Emergency Medical System. In the wilderness, there is no EMS, or it would take too long to get there. So we are not only going to learn how to keep someone alive for a few minutes, but for hours or even days, and how to get them out of the wilderness with no other help, if necessary.”
After spending an hour getting someone out of immediate danger, we mastered Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation in about two hours. “I expect to see those CPR dummies in use during lunch, and if I don’t, I’ll start testing people.”
We had a short break. The next hour and a half covered bleeding, dressings, and bandaging. We worked on each other, wrapping bandages for all kinds of cuts.
Lunchtime arrived, and most people went outside to smoke cigarettes.
Penny and I didn’t want to hog the equipment, but no one else was using the CPR dummies, so we grabbed one.
Penny went first. “I have no breath. Pulse? None. I find the sternum —
six compressions. Open the airway — three breaths. Pulse? Not yet.
Compressions. Breaths . . .”
The teacher looked into the room, saw only us at the dummies, and frowned, but I knew he wasn’t frowning at us. I took my turn next. Finally, a couple of other people wanted to practice, so we ate our lunch while bandaging each other.
Class started, and we spent two hours on all kinds of bone fractures and how to immobilize them or put them in traction. We used sticks, rolled newspapers, and lots of cloth.
A break, during which we practiced splints and stuff, and then an hour on burns. They were scary because there was so little you could do for a bad burn in the wilderness except take antibiotics.
“We have one more hour today. This will be hard for some of you, but I’m going to go around the room and tell each one of you what you really need to work hardest on or else someone could die if they ever need your help.”
Penny and I looked at each other. This sure was different from our schools.
He started with a lady in the front. “You’re afraid to touch the injured person. They will die without your helpful touch, especially in the wilderness.”
Then the college student guy beside her. “You act as if you have all day.
Seconds count in CPR and bleeding. When someone needs you, they need you NOW.”
Before he got to us, only one person in class got a no problem comment from him.
Then he stopped in front of us. “I shouldn’t spend class time with auditors. Okay, everyone. Read and practice on everything we have covered, especially those areas I mentioned to you, or any that you know you need to work on. Next week, 8:00 am.”
We were both quiet as everyone was leaving. We started to head for the door, but heard the teacher’s voice say, “Ariel and Penny.” We went up to his desk, and after everyone else had left, he said, “I didn’t want to say it in front of the class, but you two had no weak spots. Read and practice. See you next weeks”
“Thank you, Sir!”
“Thank
you!”
We stopped at the bookstore on the way home and got one of the class books.
Monday and Tuesday it rained, so I went to Penny’s house after school, and we took turns reading to each other from the first aid book.
Wednesday was nice, so we went to the park to flex our muscles. We climbed trees and ran around some.
“Ariel, I didn’t tell you then, because we were busy with our tests, but I found something I want to show you.” She led me into the wild area, into the wildest part of the wild area if anything. We went to the far side of the hill, where I had never gone before. After crawling under some of the wickedest thorn bushes I had ever seen, we started going up another hill, not as high as the one I knew.
The top of the hill was all covered with cedars — the most beautiful cedar grove I had ever seen.. The smell was wonderful! In the middle was an open space, about 25 feet across, covered in a blanket of cedar needles, and almost completely roofed over by the big trees.
I walked all around the grove. There was no sign that anybody had ever been there before. “Penny, could this be . . . our magical Grove?”
She smiled. “Just what I was thinking!”
We explored some more. “What’s that way?” I asked, pointing east.
“Perkins Road is over there somewhere, but I don’t think there’s anything on it but pastures,” she said.
I kept my ears open for people or car sounds, but couldn’t hear any.
Walking around some more, I started to think of this place as our Grove.
“Penny, I think this place was made just for us. The Magic Circle could be here in the big clearing. And over in this space, where there are no boughs overhead, we could make a fire pit. What do you think?”
“I love it!” she said. “The first Saturday we have free, let’s come here and really explore and make sure it’s safe.”
“Yeah. I’d like to build a campfire here someday after dark, and one of us can ride our bike around on all the nearest roads and trails to see if it can be
seen.”
We walked around some more, and I found a cedar that had a hollow place under it where we could keep things. We lay down in the main clearing and looked up into the curving branches. The ground there was like a cushion. It was the most magical place I had ever been. And it was ours!
“Thank you, Penny. It’s perfect!”
As it was getting dark, we reluctantly headed home. On the way back, Penny said, “Let’s always take a different way, so we don’t wear a trail.”
“Agreed,” I said.
As class started Saturday morning, the teacher had a CPR dummy up front, and called on a lady. “You find no breath but a pulse.” She immediately started compressions, so he said, “You may have just killed the person.” He went on to warn us about doing chest compressions on anyone with a pulse.
They lady was red-faced for a while, but recovered.
We spent two hours on unconsciousness, shock, and convulsions. Taking turns having different kinds of symptoms, including the ones from the week before, each of us gave treatment several times. The one I got needed CPR, some bleeding stopped, treatment for shock, and then antibiotics. After the break, we had an hour on poisons — snake bites, skin irritating plants, and food poisoning. “I’m not going into caustics and such because I presume that anyone with enough brains to get into the wilderness isn’t going to bring along a can of lye and eat it. Read about that stuff in your books.”
I put it in the back of my mind to learn more about herbs and salves like goldenseal for the scrapes and scratches we always got.
At lunch we practiced with the CPR dummies and read from our book while we ate.
After lunch came exposure, frost bite, hypothermia, heat stroke, and all those. “Remember, this course is not about wilderness survival, but in all cases, prevention is, of course, the best medicine.”
After the break, emergency childbirth. Everyone was embarrassed when he brought out the plastic pregnant lady who only went from the neck to the knees. “The most important thing to remember is that birth is a natural process. In about 90% of all cases, the birth could occur with no assistance.”
We learned about how the cord can get caught, and how the feet can come first. With the model, he showed us when to encourage the lady to push, and when to have her breathe instead. Last came how to keep the baby warm after it was born. It was all so amazing.
“We meet here at 8:00 next week, then carpool to Green Lake.”
I was in the school library one day that week, and I found a little book, Mythical Woods Creatures.
The term Sprite is applied to a mythical woodfolk when no other label, such as Fairy, Dwarf, Gnome, Leprechaun, etc., seems to apply. In legend, Sprites are generally elusive, uncatchable, nearly invisible creatures bordering on the ethereal. Indeed their name is derived from the Latin Spiritus . . .
Sprites! That’s what we shall be. Penny and I had ruled out names like Druids because of their sacrifices, and Witches because of their supposed connection with the devil and sex. We were reading things about Druids, Witches, Wizards, and lots of others, but we just didn’t want to use their names. Sprites! I couldn’t wait to tell Penny.
She liked it. We did some alder climbing that week, but we didn’t want to visit the Grove again until we had time to explore.
Thursday we both swam 2 miles without stopping.
Saturday morning everyone packed into cars and we were at the lake by 8:45. Everyone said the water felt cold, but it was normal swimming water to us.
“Again I say, we are not learning water safety here. Read up on it. We are concerned about after the problem occurs. Being in water is one of those immediate dangers that we have to deal with even before pulse and breathing. Everyone get wet.”
We didn’t want to show off, so we just splashed around with everyone else.
Then we learned how to hold someone you are rescuing and still be able to swim. Both conscious and unconscious. Each of us tried it a couple of times.
Penny always seemed to get the big, heavy ones, but she did it. The sun came out and warmed us.
Penny and I ate lunch by the water and read the class book. Most everyone else drove to the cafe down the road to eat.
Next came CPR complicated by water in the lungs. I noticed some teenagers in a canoe about half a mile out. We practiced rescues again, going out 200 yards this time. Suddenly, we all heard a scream and a splash. I looked. The canoe had turned over. The teacher pulled off his shirt and dove in.
I looked at Penny and a heartbeat later we were both in motion. Seconds behind the teacher, we were in the water, swimming our fastest.
When we got out there, it seemed like the older guy could swim, but didn’t know how to help the others. There was a younger boy going under, and the teacher grabbed him. One of the girls was freaking out, and the other one looked like she was going down.
“Penny! Get the one in trouble!” I yelled. Then I grabbed the girl who was freaking out.
I tried to say some nice things, but it didn’t work, so I slapped her. “Relax or drown!” I yelled at her. It worked. I got her in a chest carry. “Just help me by kicking,” I said in a much softer voice.
We all made it back. Other people in the class were already helping Penny’s girl who had taken water, and Penny was resting. The teacher got the young boy out, made sure his lungs were clear, checked to see that the older guy was coming, and then took over with Penny’s girl. Some other students comforted the girl I brought in.
I sat down beside Penny. “That was an unexpected test!” I said.
“Yeah. D0 you think he believes us now that we can swim?” Penny said quietly. We both snickered softly.
They were all okay. The teacher drove them to the cafe, then came back.
“Anyone learn anything from that?” he asked.
One lady said, “Never judge anyone by their age.” She was looking at us. I was embarrassed but proud.
The last hour was on how to rescue yourself. He showed us ways to float and conserve energy, most of which we knew. We all practiced, then
carpooled back to the college.
Nothing special happened that week at school. I spent most days after school with Penny, studying first aid, or running and climbing in the park. I was keeping up with my homework after dinner each evening, and needless to say, I didn’t watch much TV.
Our last Saturday class. We started with review, than learned about all kinds of signaling — fires, mirrors, flares, smoke, dye, flags, code, you name it.
After the break, we did transport, from stretcher to helicopter. We learned when you could move someone, and when you might as well just bury them.
Broken backs and necks gave me the creeps.
As the class broke up for lunch, the teacher stopped us. “Ariel and Penny, you two are done. This afternoon is all testing for the credit students. I am really pleased with your work, and I was wondering if you would be available to help me with some demonstrations. Starting in January, I will be going around to a number of schools, doing water rescue and first aid demos. Your transportation and lunch would be provided.”
“That would be neat!” I said.
“It sure would!” Penny said.
“Even though you don’t get college credit, here are your certificates of completion.”
We looked at the fancy certificates and thanked him.
“Talk to your parents about the demos in January, and I’ll call in a few weeks.”
On the way to town, Penny said, “As I remember, I owe you a banana split!”
“And as I remember, I owe you one!”