By Mitchell Clarke
Pakenham nurse Natascha Mazurek vividly recalls a heartbreaking experience 18 years ago where she watched a young mother die after suffering a suspected brain haemorrhage.
It’s believed the mother’s three-year-old daughter sat by her mum’s side for almost three hours before her father came home and called an ambulance.
Ms Mazurek is a strong believer that the daughter could have possibly been able to assist in saving her mother’s life, had she been equipped with some sort of emergency training.
“The distraught child I met 18 years ago had no idea what to do in an emergency, so she simply stayed by her mother’s side,” she said.
“We believe it’s the small things that can save a life, like teaching kids how to recognise an emergency situation, how to control bleeding, rolling a person into the recovery position and calling triple zero.”
Natascha’s 22 years working in hospital scrubs within the accident and emergency department hasn’t been enough to dull the memory of this particularly heartbreaking case.
Teaming up with her sister, Angela Quinn, an experienced and passionate childcare teacher, the pair created ‘Cool Kids First Aid’, an interactive and age appropriate program for children of all ages.
“We knew this program was important because there is such a lack in the market for this, however we didn’t realise the full gravity of the need until we started receiving the large volume calls for bookings,” Ms Quinn said.
Since the beginning of the program, Cool Kids First Aid have produced an app to simulate how to dial triple zero.
The sisters have also written a children’s book titled ‘What to do in an Emergency, with Lexi and Leo’, which is an integral tool used in their lessons.
Returning home to Pakenham, the sisters visited John Henry Primary School on Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 August to provide students with vital
“Pakenham will always be home to me and I am so happy to be teaching the kids here at John Henry Primary School,” Ms Mazurek said.
An emergency kit will be left with John Henry PS after the session so the children are able to use this in their role play to further reinforce their learning.
“Our aim is for every child in Australia to understand the basics of what to do in an emergency and potentially save the life of someone they love.”
