By Emily Setona
QWAQWA – Learners at Mafube Secondary School say they are now better prepared to respond during medical emergencies after attending a blood and first aid awareness programme focused on life-saving skills, CPR and emergency response.
The programme, hosted on 15 May by Helping Hands on Children’s Hope through its LAB initiative — Learn About Blood — equipped learners with practical knowledge on blood hygiene, bleeding control, snake bites and cardiac arrest response.
Grade 11 learner Dimpho Mogalodi (16) said the session empowered learners with critical emergency skills that could help save lives at school and in their communities.
“We learned about blood types, the importance of blood and CPR demonstrations for infants and adults. We now understand how to help during emergencies, especially when teachers or medical staff are not immediately available,” she said.
Grade 10 learner Nkosinathi Ndaba (15) described the programme as educational and practical.
“We learned how to stop severe bleeding, respond to snake bites and perform CPR on infants, children and adults. The experience gave us useful knowledge that can help us during emergencies,” said Ndaba.
Programme facilitator Bongiwe Buthelezi said the LAB initiative was designed to educate young people about blood safety, hygiene and responsible emergency response.
She encouraged learners to treat injured people with care and stressed the importance of understanding blood as a lifeforce shared by all people.
Emergency Medical Services paramedic Mathebello Mokoena and her team led practical demonstrations on CPR and first aid procedures. Learners were taught how to assist people suffering from uncontrolled bleeding while waiting for professional medical assistance.
The programme ended with an interactive quiz where learners tested their understanding of blood safety, first aid and CPR techniques learned during the session.
