I started the 1996 Guiding year with two broken feet (don't ask!). I was in a wheelchair for most of first term.

A week or so before the first meeting of the year, I sent out a letter to all the Guides, telling them that I had broken my feet, and needed fathers to volunteer to push me in my wheelchair up the hill to the Guide Hall. What I didn't tell them was how I did the deed.

This is the activity I devised for that first meeting. The girls thought it was funny, but there are some serious messages in it too.

How did Kalina break her feet?

Each patrol is to come up with a play on how Kalina broke her feet, and what should have been done in the way of first aid when she did it.

(This was hilarious. The girls came up with some fantastic ideas of how someone could break both feet, none of which came anywhere near the truth! But it was a good exercise for them to start thinking about safety issues.)

Once the plays have been presented, patrols will each do something different from this list:

All patrols then had to demonstrate the correct first aid for broken bones, including immobilisation, reassurance, a bucket to be sick in (if necessary), medical assistance etc.

This is a valuable and practical exercise in thinking about safety, first aid, and what a person needs when sick or injured.

Suggestions:

Come up with your own basic scenario of injuries, or come to the meeting with some simulated wounds.