Welcome to Brunel First Aid Society! We're a fun and sociable group of students of all academic backgrounds, interested in learning lifesaving skills and treatments. At our weekly meetings, we focus on teaching and practicing important first aid skills, and ensuring that our members would know what do in an emergency. We are also a part of St John Ambulance - this means that if our members want to, they can take their skills further and volunteer their time to treat people at events around London, as well as assist at local hospitals to help the COVID-19 effort.
When do you meet? We meet every Monday at 6:30pm in LECT 011 / 015. Our meetings normally last until around 8pm, although sometimes we finish a little earlier. At our sessions, we teach important first aid skills and give our members the opportunity to practice them in a safe and stress-free environment. We welcome people of all skill levels, from beginner to super advanced!
What will I learn? Some of the skills our members will learn include dealing with casualties who are bleeding, choking, unresponsive, having a seizure, asthmatic or having an allergic reaction. We will also have sessions on dealing with multiple casualties, using radios and the phonetic alphabet, using sign-language for casualties who are deaf, and much more. If you'd particularly like to learn something, let the committee know and we will try to organise it!
As well as learning first aid skills, Brunel First Aid Society is also a great way to socialise! Our meetings are not only an easy way to meet and get to know fellow Brunel students, but also with students from other First Aid Societies from universities across London. We have regular social events such as meals, paintballing and the annual London LINKS Christmas Ball.
Can I take it further? If our members choose to, they can become a volunteer with St John Ambulance (SJA). This would enable them to volunteer their time at a huge variety of events around London and beyond, including the Notting Hill Carnival, Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Lord's Cricket, Premiership football matches, concerts and festivals in Hyde Park, the London Marathon and much much more. At the moment, operational members of our unit are also supporting NHS at various hospitals and vaccination centres across London!
If you're interested in becoming a St John Ambulance member, then please speak to one of the committee member and we will help you with the application process. Once you've completed a short, informal interview and DBS check, then you'll be invited to pick between a Community First Aider (CFA), an Emergency Responder (ER) or many other non-clinical roles too. After your training, you'll have the opoptunity to train for higher roles like Medical Response Team (MRT) or Emergency Ambulance Crew (EAC). If you have any questions, don't hesitate to approach any one of the committee members!
How can I stay in touch? To stay up-to-date with what's going on within Brunel First Aid Society, make sure you give your email address to the committee at the end of a session, to be added to our mailing list. You can also follow us on social media:
Facebook: /BrunelFirstAid
Twitter: @BrunelFirstAid
Instagram: BrunelFirstAid
If you have any feedback on our sessions, socials or society in general, we'd love to hear it!
What if I still have questions? If you fancy joining Brunel First Aid Society, we'd love to hear from you! Get in touch using the social media, send an email to brunel@sja.org.uk, or just turn up to our weekly session - we meet on Mondays at 6:30pm in LECT 011/015. Membership cost for joining the society is just £10 for the entire year, which can be paid by clicking the button on the right of the page.
Not many students can say they learn how to save lives in their spare time!