Cadette First Aid

**The Cadette First Aid badge** is part of the Legacy badge set introduced in 2011. It replaces the retired Cadette First Aid badge.

## Step 1: Understand how to care for younger children

   Imagine you’re helping out at Girl Scout camp. What would you do if a younger girl is knocked unconscious or twists her ankle? Or, what if you’re babysitting and a toddler develops a high fever or starts vomiting? Find out how to care for a younger child who is sick or hurt and how to recognize common medical emergencies.

CHOOSE ONE: Take a babysitting class. Find a class that includes first aid.

OR

Ask a medical professional. Invite an expert such as a pediatric nurse or doctor to talk to your group about how to treat minor illnesses and injuries when caring for younger children. Find out what to do if the problem isn’t minor, including whether you should handle it or hand it over to someone with more experience.

OR

Talk to child care professionals. Interview three people who work with children at a day-care center, camp, or your Girl Scout council about different medical emergencies they have encountered and how they handled them.

### Careers to EXPLORE

* Dentist
* Doctor
* Paramedic
* Pharmacist
* Nutritionist
* Physical therapist
* First aid instructor
* Nursing aide
* Chiropractor
* Athletic trainer
* Pharmaceutical researcher
* Girl Scout camp counselor
* Massage therapist
* Wilderness guide
* Veterinarian

### Dr. Yael Feldman

Dr. Yael Feldman is a board certified pediatric dentist. Dr. Feldman graduated from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Dental School in 2003. She then went on to complete a general practice residency through Montefiore Medical Center at Jacobi Hospital. Dr. Feldman completed her specialty training in pediatric dentistry at St. Barnabas Hospital.

In March 2008, Dr. Feldman became a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. She won the Richard R. Pugh Achievement Award for scoring in the top 3% on her board exam. Dr. Feldman is currently a member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, The New York Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the New Jersey Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. She has been with the Exchange Dental Group since 2006, and also works as an attending at SBH Health System training future pediatric dentists.

Dr. Feldman strives to provide a comfortable, professional and easy visit for every child. She is committed to providing the highest level of care for your children. Dr. Feldman excels at putting both the child and parent at ease throughout the dental experience.

In her spare time Dr. Feldman enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time with her husband and four daughters.

## Step 2: Know how to use everything in a first aid kit

A first aid kit contains everything you need to treat minor injuries. But how do you use gauze, anyway? And, what do you do with that triangle-shaped bandage? Know how to use each piece of a first aid kit, and how to tel a minor injury from a more serious condition, by completing a choice below.

CHOOSE ONE: Talk to a medical professional. You might visit your school nurse or a doctor at a local clinic. Ask her or him to show you how to use each piece of a first aid kit, then, try it yourself.

OR Take a course. Find one that includes information on use a first aid kit.

OR

Talk to an emergency professional. Ask an emergency medical technician (also know as an EMT) to visit your group and teach you to use the different pieces of a first aid kit. Divide into teams and practice using items in the kit on each other.

FOR MORE FUN: Make this a contest! Invite an EMT, firefighter, doctor, nurse, or Red Cross representative to be a judge.

Make Your Own First Aid Kit

The Red Cross recommends that all first aid kits for a family of four include the following:

Nonlatex gloves Antibiotic and hydrocortisone ointments

Scissors and tweezers Cold compress

Breathing barrier Bandages: an assortment of adhesive bandages, gauze, and adhesive cloth tape

Aspirin Blanket

Oral thermometer Instruction booklet

Personalize Your Kit

Be sure to include:

* Personal medications, if any
* Emergency phone numbers and contact information
* Information on any allergies
* Any other items recommended by your doctor

Keep your kit up to date by:

* Checking expiration dates and replace used or out-of-date

contents

* Making sure flashlight batteries work

## Step 3: Find out how to prevent serious outdoor injuries

What do you do if someone breaks a leg while you’re hiking in the mountains? Or, how do you help someone who has nearly drowned on a boat trip? Find out about the people who deal with wilderness emergencies.

CHOOSE ONE: Talk to first aiders. Interview certified wilderness first aiders who work with your Girl Scout council. Find out more about how to prevent serious injuries, how they treat these injuries when they happen, how you can get help if someone is injured, and what to do while you’re waiting for help to arrive.

OR

Ask a wilderness expert. Invite a park ranger or member of a wilderness search-and- rescue squad to talk to your group about how to prevent serious injuries. Find out more about how they treat these injuries, how you can help if someone is injured, and what to do while you’re waiting for help to arrive.

OR

Find out about common injuries. To online and research injuries suffered by people participating in an outdoor activity you enjoy, such as canoeing or skiing. Interview someone from a search-and-rescue squad or emergency response unit about how they treat those injuries, how you can get help if someone is injured, and what to do while you’re waiting for help to arrive.

Survival Blanket

A survival blanket – also, called a Mylar, solar, first aid, or thermal blanket – could save

your life in an emergency. The blankets were first developed by the National Aeronautics

and Space Administration (NASA) for use in space. They are made by coating a thin sheet

of plastic with a reflecting agent. This agent reflects your body heat back into the body.

If person is injured on a hiking trip, a survival blanket can keep her warm while other

people go for help. They may, also, be used to wrap a person who has fallen into cold

water or to stay warm if the temperature drops suddenly on an overnight camping trip.

SPRAIN SAVVY

What should you do if you or a friend sprains an ankle? Many muscle, bone, and joint injuries can be treated by following four steps, called RICE. That stands for Rest,Immobilize, Cold, Elevate.

REST. Don’t move or straighten the injured area.

IMMOBILIZE. Stabilize the injured area in the position in which you found it. Splint the injury

only if the person must be moved and it doesn’t cause more pain.

COLD.

Put ice in a plastic bag or damp cloth. Apply it to the injured area for up to 20 minutes and, then, repeat if necessary. Always keep a barrier, such as cloth between ice and bare skin to reduce the risk of damaging skin and other soft tissue.

ELEVATE.

Propping up the injured leg or arm on something soft like a pillow or blanket will help reduce the swelling and make the person more comfortable. Do not elevate the injury if it causes more pain.

## Step 4: Learn to prevent and treat injuries due to weather

Whether you’re snowshoeing in the depths of winter or hanging out on the beach on a summer day, extreme temperatures can make you sick. Learn the signs of heatstroke, frostbite, hypothermia, and hyperthermia, and how to treat them.

CHOOSE ONE: Take a first aid course. Find one through your Girl Scout council or local Red Cross chapter that covers the warning signs and basic care for minor heat- and cold-related injuries.

OR

Ask a park ranger, lifeguard, or ski patrol member. Invite them to talk to your group about how to recognize the warning signs of heat- and cold-related injuries, how you can care for minor cases, and how to know when you need to get help.

OR

Interviewadoctorornurse. Askabouthowtorecognizethewarningsignsofheat-and cold-related injuries, how you can care for minor cases, and how to know when you need to get help.

HYPOTHERMIA

Hypothermia (lowered body temperature) occurs when the body loses heat faster than it can produce it. This can happen when wind, moisture, and cool temperatures draw heat away from the body at a rapid rate. A cool, breezy, drizzly day – even when the temperature is above freezing – can be more dangerous in terms of hypothermia that a calm, dry, cold day.