Speech - How to persuade and convince your fellow senior students to sign up together with you for the December First Aid Course?

*TAKE NOTE:  THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE A COMPLETE SPEECH.  IT IS THE BODY of THE SPEECH.

Let me explain to you why I think it is important that you vote with me for the First Aid Course in December this year.


Hidans lead an active lifestyle, both in the classroom and beyond. However, we are not really a careful lot. We often run into accidents. As senior students, it is long overdue for us to know that we need to have the proper First Aid skills to help ourselves and other people, as and when needed. However it is better late than never.


We need to equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills of First Aid. The aims are to preserve life, to limit the worsening of the condition and to promote recovery. I strongly believe in the need for myself to be trained as a First Aider who is both theoretically and practically sound when I am applying my skills to help other people.


We should take advantage of the opportunity this December to get the Red Cross Society of Singapore to come over to our school to hold a one-week course for us. The benefits are manifold. Firstly, we shall be learning skills and picking up knowledge from real practitioners in the field. If we are lucky, we could even be meeting up with one or two persons who have had experienced helping the victims of the Asian Tsunami at Phuket Island in 2004.


Secondly, let me take you back to the course itself. We shall each be receiving five days of training worth about eight hours per day. Skills like how to perform a proper CPR – cardio-pulmonary resuscitation or using a tourniquet to secure an injured arm or sprained elbow or preparing a compact but effective First Aid box or even calming down any traumatized casualty will be taught. We will also be taken out to the fields and there are going to be real-life experiences for us to practise our skills after we learn them.


Finally, let me help to further understand the lasting benefits of the First Aid Course. We will be able to learn how to identify and attend to emergency situations in the following ways: We will be able to observe what has happened quickly and calmly and look out for dangers to ourselves and to the casualty. We will learn to never put ourselves at risk and always make the affected area safe. We will behave responsibly to protect the casualty from danger and be better aware of our strengths and limitations. We will also be able to assess each casualty to determine treatment priorities and treat those with life-threatening conditions first. Last but not least, we can quickly but surely ensure that any necessary specialist help has been summoned and is on its way. Can you see how much you will be missing out if we do not sign up for this course? I certainly hope you do.


A word about the other two courses is in order here. I would also very much like to attend the Personal Fitness Training Course and the Personal Finance Management Course.  I believed that to make it to our shortlist, they must be equally good. However, because we can only have one course, I think the First Aid Course takes the priority. I urge you not to rush into things. In the very short time that we have, we get to the basics first and take on the First Aid Course. When we have learned about First Aid and become more confident people, then perhaps, it is time for us to persuade the Principal to let us go for these other two. So for now, join me to vote for the First Aid Course. We shall not regret the choice we have made.