John doing his part at the blood donation drive at Singapore Polytechnic
This post is about our second kid. It's small things your kid does that makes you proud as a parent.
Last weekend, he was on the MRT when an elderly man grasped his chest, groaned loudly in pain and collapsed to the train floor. With his basic First Aid skills, he, his friend and another stranger attended to him to the best of their ability. He described to us the 'response' of fellow commuters and the train staff but I think I'm not keen to stir sh*t here. I will however say, you better pray not to have a seizure or a heart attack on our trains.
Whenever we're in Bangkok, we will usually make a trip to a pharmacy we're familiar with. Once there, John will rattle the names of medicines he would like to purchase for his first aid kit at home. Don't ask me how but his knowledge of medications for everyday ailments is quite good. I've noticed the elderly pharmacist has shown himself to be quite tickled by John. (Just so you know, we believe the meds to be authentic and have had no problem with them so far).
John's the family's quack paramedic. Quack only because he's uncertified. Basic training received but uncertified. Let's just say he's handy to have with you on an outing or in the event of an accident (God forbid). My mum had a fall last year and her head had bled quite a fair bit as she had hit it against the corner of a piece of furniture. John told me there was a pool of blood (yucks!). He was the only one with her at the time and had attended to her. He had bandaged her up with his basic first aid skills. The actual paramedic arrived in the ambulance and had later told my mum that John had done a really good job stemming the bleeding.
Before he entered Singapore Polytechnic, he had told me he might want to be a paramedic. I wasn't sure how to react. He was also crazy about all things planes! Anyway, he went ahead to study an aviation engineering related course and last semester, managed to do well enough to be offered a PLUS programme by the school this semester (which is basically an additional course with certification). This course has turned him into the family's pseudo electrician because he has to study electrical circuits as part of his course. Very, very handy! I no longer have to rely solely on Mike to fix all things electrical! He also takes the time to explain the electrical stuff to me. As I told hubs, during a war, I'd want my son next to me!
Anyway, he has indicated that he might want to apply to be a paramedic for his NS stint. I thought he would prefer being in the air force but hey, nothing is set in gold yet. Who am I to say, "Make up your mind what you want to be"! At my age, I still don't know what I want to be when I 'grow up'! What I know about this kid is if he is pursuing something he enjoys, he will do very well in it. If he is forced into it, he may just be mediocre or worse. So as a parent, I'm just taking it semester by semester to see how it pans out. NS is NS. Of course we hope that he'll maintain his good GPA to make it to Uni like his sis (despite the subliminal messages we keep getting from the 'top' that a degree isn't everything). So it's long ways yet what line he (or his sister for that matter) will end up in.
So back to his First Aid skills. He would like to get certified. The proper course with certification takes a couple of full days to complete. Even on weekends, that's quite 'tough' for him to spare nowadays. His PLUS programme means he has to have night classes one night of the week. Other days he has to stay behind for group discussions or project work. He's also got himself involved in a non-compulsory CCA with his Polytechnic, doing charity work. He's very involved in it because he enjoys it. Anyway, the First Aid courses in November and December are full so he'll have to check his schedule (which is difficult to plan ahead) to see if he can join the January course. I put a shout-out on Facebook to check if anyone knew of any free-of-charge First Aid course (with certification) because it can cost a couple of hundred dollars and some kind souls actually responded with sponsorship! Thank YOU, you know who you are! (*wink)
(Update 2015 - John is now a certified First Aider! Singapore Polytechnic ran a course and he got selected to attend it on behalf of his club. Yay! How blessed are we that the Lord knows and hears us? Praise God!)
So back to his First Aid skills. He would like to get certified. The proper course with certification takes a couple of full days to complete. Even on weekends, that's quite 'tough' for him to spare nowadays. His PLUS programme means he has to have night classes one night of the week. Other days he has to stay behind for group discussions or project work. He's also got himself involved in a non-compulsory CCA with his Polytechnic, doing charity work. He's very involved in it because he enjoys it. Anyway, the First Aid courses in November and December are full so he'll have to check his schedule (which is difficult to plan ahead) to see if he can join the January course. I put a shout-out on Facebook to check if anyone knew of any free-of-charge First Aid course (with certification) because it can cost a couple of hundred dollars and some kind souls actually responded with sponsorship! Thank YOU, you know who you are! (*wink)
(Update 2015 - John is now a certified First Aider! Singapore Polytechnic ran a course and he got selected to attend it on behalf of his club. Yay! How blessed are we that the Lord knows and hears us? Praise God!)
