Barry M. Robinson Medical Simulation

48th Cadets at St. Luke Medic Competition

The 48th Highlander Army Cadets helped out with the medical
simulation during a friendly competition between several reserve
field ambulance units at Moss Park Armoury.


48th Highlanders Cadets

48th Highlanders
Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps
First Aid Practice

This is the ongoing first aid practice page for the 48th Highlander Army Cadets at Moss Park Armoury. Check the calendar on the 48th cadets website for practice times and updates to the schedule.

During our 2015-2016 training year we participated in two major emergency medical exercises. The first was the St. Luke's Medical Skills Validation Exercise. Held at Moss Park Armoury on October 17th 2015 by 25 (Toronto) Field Ambulance, this exercise tested the skills of several reserve field amulance units in Ontario. The 48th Highlander Army Cadets created and performed as some of the simulated casualties.

48th Cadets at Moss Park Armoury St. Luke's competition

The 48th Highlander Army Cadets as simulated casualties for the St. Lukes competition. The event took place in the gun park at Moss Park Armoury in Toronto.

48th Cadets at Moss Park Armoury St. Luke's competition

Simulated casualties, played by 48th cadets, receive treatment from members of reserve medical units from Ontario.

The cadets also were casualty simulators for the large emergency exercise held at Toronto Pearson Airport on May 28th 2016. This exercise, called "Grand Slam", was one of the largest ever held in Toronto and involved the emergency services of not only the airport but of Toronto and Peel Regions as well. An exercise of this size is only held once every five years.

48th Cadets at GTAA Exercise Grand Slam

The 48th Highlander Army Cadets creating simulated casualties for Exercise Grand Slam held at Toronto Pearson Airport on May 28, 2016.
Pictured above are cadets (right) Cone (left) Pahlavi. Photos by Lt. J Courtland Elliott II, CD

48th Cadets at GTAA Exercise Grand Slam

Right: The simulated casualties wait in the shade of the plane wreckage. Left: The exercise begins with the arrival of airport fire trucks.
The cadets accompanied the simulated casuaties out onto the airport tarmac to apply last-minute makeup before the exercise started.
Photos by Lt. J Courtland Elliott II, CD

On our optional training night, Thursday November 10th, we were fortunate to meet with Adam Reading from Innovative Tactical Training Solutions (now North American Rescue Simulation). Mr. Reading was at Moss Park Armoury to demonstrate the TOMManikin to members of 25 Field Ambulance. The TOMManikin is a trauma manikin simulator designed for medical training in the military and in law enforcement organizations. It can realistically portray a wide range of wounds including blast injuries, gunshot wounds, and burns. The cadets, under Mr. Reading's direction, were able to learn a bit about the military medic's trade by watching various emergency medical procedures performed on the mannequin.

Cadets work with a medical mannequin

Left: The cadets get a quick briefing on the TOMManikin, a trauma simulator mannequin, from Adam Reading. Centre: Applying a tournique to the
mannequin's leg. Right: The cadets observe a simulated emergency cricothyrotomy performed on the TOMManikin

We now have a fully stocked medic's jump bag (training only) for cadet use and two Laerdal Rescusi Junior mannequins in our training inventory. These mannequins are designed for realistic CPR practice and are about the size of a 5 year old child. We expect to be adding additional training resources in the near future.

The cadets have two new first aid kits for use in garrison and on exercises. The Trauma Kit is for serious emergencies and contains supplies necessary to control life-threatening conditions such as severe external bleeds, cardiovascular emergencies, serious burns and other trauma. For minor emergencies such as small cuts, minor soft tissue injuries, sunburn, insect stings, poison ivy, splinters and similar injuries we have the Minor Emergencies Kit. The kits are separate to help keep the trauma supplies intact and organzied. If a serious emergency arises, the trauma kit must be immediately accessible and organzied so that the first aider can efficiently and effectively provide proper care to the casualty. When going on an exercise, always take both kits. In most cases only the Minor Emergencies Kit will need to be used but the Trauma Kit must be accessible for serious emergencies.

Can first aid training make a difference? Eli Beer, pictured above right in a TED video, began riding out in an ambulance at age 15. By the age of 17 he was organizing volunteers in Jerusalem into a rapid response team. Watch his full story by clicking on the video. His organization is called United Hatzalah

Are you new to first aid? Watch these short videos at World First Aid Day on the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies website. I've embedded one video to the left "Learn first aid. Be a hero." You should also watch the video at Rules of war (in a nutshell) by the International Committe of the Red Cross. This will give you a sense of the ethos of the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, which were founded to give aid to those in need regardless of their nationality or ethnicity.

First Aid Practice

The pages posted here are outlines and notes for first aid practice.

Hemmorage Control

The "C" in the ABC of first aid is for circulation. One important part of maintaining circulation is to stop bleeding. Below are several important references on methods of controlling bleeding (hemmorage). The gold standard for hemmorage control is direct pressure on the wound. This is simple and effective; all you need is your hand and some type of dressing. The cadet practice jump bag has several different types of pressure dressings including the Israeli Bandage, demonstrated in the video below.