StreetDoctors news14th February 2022
The Summit was held at Haringey Sixth Form College in North East London, and livestreamed to 8 other schools and colleges in the borough, reaching over 250 young people in total.
There were talks given by experts in violence, policing and supporting young people in Haringey: Cllr Adam Jogee, Mayor of Haringey; Okela Douglas, founder of Sister System; Sal Naseem, from IOPC; Dal Babu former chief superintendent of the Met Police; Lucie Russell, CEO of StreetDoctors; and three StreetDoctors volunteers.
Our volunteers Ash, Vishal and Jakob showcased sections of our emergency lifesaving training ‘What to do if someone is bleeding or knocked out’. They spoke about the signs and symptoms to look for if someone is losing blood – lose 1 pint and they might feel drowsy but by 3 pints they might be unconscious.
The volunteers then ran through the most important first aid steps if someone is bleeding:
A – call the ambulance 999
S – make sure you are safe
A – apply pressure to the wound to stop more blood loss
They also covered how to tell if someone is unconscious, demonstrating ‘shake and wake’, and how to tell if they are breathing. They finished with a demonstration of the recovery position.
Interspersing the demonstrations were classroom facilitated discussions, where students talked about what they would do if they saw someone bleeding and how they would feel about helping. The students were also asked to discuss what they think the causes and solutions of violence are – giving them space to reflect and talk about issues that effects so many daily is an important part of StreetDoctors training.
We are delighted to have been a part of the Haringey Youth Summit 2022 and to have been able to reach hundreds of young people from 9 schools and colleges with our lifesaving skills, empowering them to make better decisions to keep safe and with the knowledge to save lives.
Volunteer trainer Vishal said about the event,
Events like this are amazing. We want young people to be part of the solution [to violence] and we want to reach as many young people as possible. We had a really big audience here and online … they now have the skills, confidence and the knowledge to be lifesavers.
We are looking forward to building our relationships with schools, colleges and youth groups in Haringey to be part of the community-led response to reducing violence affecting young people.
If you are interested in having our volunteers train your young people in lifesaving skills, visit:
Or email edward@streetdoctors.org (in London), niamh@streetdoctors.org (in the North) or sarah@streetdoctors.org (anywhere else in UK).