Tyler Sanne, a fourth-grader at Fredstrom Elementary School, checks a CPR dummy for signs of breathing. Photo: Carson Stokebrand, NewsNetNebraska
Basic Aid Training (BAT) is a national program for elementary school children organized by the American Red Cross. The program is funded locally by insurance company Lincoln Benefit Life.
"We work with Lincoln Public Schools to get this into every fourth-grade class, every year," said Susan Epps, chief operating officer of the Cornhusker Regional Chapter of the American Red Cross.
More than 100 Red Cross volunteers help teach the classes to 39 elementary schools in more than 90 fourth-grade classrooms throughout Lincoln. The American Red Cross also collaborates with Lincoln Fire and Rescue, nursing students and University of Nebraska-Lincoln students to help teach the classes.
"They [UNL students] enjoy doing it because interacting with kids is always fun," said Ryan Riley, a junior at UNL and the BAT committee chair for Campus Red Cross. "It's a hands-on experience for them. When you see kids having fun it's a hands on experience for you as well."
Part of the Red Cross' purpose is to provide this type of training, Epps said.
"Part of our mission is to prepare for emergencies," she said, "and BAT fits right in there."
This ambitious program has been held every fall for the past 15 years. This ensures that all Lincoln children receive this education at some point.
Alice Epstein, a Red Cross volunteer and program instructor, says fourth grade is the perfect age level for this type of training.
"As fourth-graders, they are old enough to digest it and think about how they can use it," Epstein said. "I could see them going home and saying, ‘We need an escape plan!'"
Brooklin Vinatieri, a fourth-grader at Fredstrom Elementary School, prepares to demonstrate rescue breathing techniques she learned in Basic Aid Training. Photo: Carson Stokebrand, NewsNetNebraska
Jake Wiegert, a fourth-grader at Fredstrom Elementary School, said he enjoyed the experience so much he shared the skills he learned with his family when he got home. "I thought it was really fun-I practiced at home with my little brother."
Epps agreed the students are taught at the right time. "It's an age where they are passionate to learn and old enough to understand the curriculum."
The program's curriculum covers everything from how to care for a broken arm to how to administer rescue breathing. Epstein believes that the information the students learn in BAT will prove valuable not only now, but throughout their lives.
"It gives them an awareness as a fourth-grader that will carry on into adulthood," Epstein said.
Epps said that this training can help guide students to make smart decisions when faced with life or death situations.
"They will have the knowledge and skills to make a real difference when some type of emergency happens," Epps said. "Lives can be saved with even this little bit of knowledge."
Alice Epstein, an American Red Cross volunteer, assists Zane Eskra, a fourth-grader at Fredstrom Elementary School, as he learns to make a sling during Basic Aid Training. Photo: Carson Stokebrand, NewsNetNebraska
"I think it will help me if I'm walking through the park and someone thinks they have a broken arm or something," Jake said. "I can help them put it in a sling and can help take them to the hospital."
Riley said Jake is probably right. "There have been several accounts of children saying they were able to administer skills like the Heimlich because of what they learned in fourth grade in BAT," Riley said.
Epps says the student responses have been overwhelmingly positive.
"Almost all kids tell us they really, really like it-and I think it's the interactive part of it," Epps said.
This "interactive part" of the course gives the students an opportunity to work on CPR dummies. Epps said wrapping their classmates with bandages is another highlight for students.
Epstein added: "The kids are very receptive and very excited. They absorb the knowledge."
When asked in an end-of-the-class evaluation what their favorite part of the program was, one anonymous student gave the following response, "All of it. It was so, so, (100 so's) awesome."
Each child goes home with a safety book, first aid kit and certificate of completion. Perhaps most important, though, they go home with skills and awareness that can potentially save lives.
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Good job, good job, good job, maybe this would be a good table topics at the Thanksgiving table!