Putting the Super in Superhero
Molly shifted her med burgen further up her shoulder as she nervously followed the head teacher along the corridor. She had to remind herself that she was a grown up and not a naughty school girl getting sent to the head teacher's office for doing something she shouldn't be. Her eyes scanned the freshly painted walls and the bright display boards that proudly showcased each year groups' hard work. It was a far cry from the rundown, draughty school she had attended in East Ham. They stopped outside a classroom and the Head turned and smiled reassuringly at Molly. "I'll let Miss Hollis know you're here. They've been looking forward to your visit all week. Good luck." With that she entered the classroom and shut the door, leaving Molly alone in the empty corridor. Molly's heart rate quickened and she took a deep reassuring breath, looking down to check her uniform as she gave herself a quick mental shake. Get it together Dawes. You've done tours of Afghanistan and Africa, survived gunshots, terrorists and been responsible for treating hundreds of patients with potentially life threatening injuries in overcrowded and understaffed hospitals in the dark, with resources that barely filled a cardboard box. Talking in front of a group eight year olds should be a piece of cake. To coin one of her husband's favourite phrases all she had to do was stay focused, stay alert, stay alive. How hard could it be?
Molly peeked in through the window and couldn't help but smile as she watched thirty eager children dashing around the room frantically tidying away chairs and pushing tables against the wall to make more room. She had initially been reluctant to come in and speak to Sam's class about her experiences. She had been at one of Sam's tag rugby matches when he had gotten injured and refused to be treated by anyone but Molly. Sam's team mates had been confused and weary of this complete stranger who suddenly swooped in and saved Sam like some sort of superwoman. It was only when Charles had explained that Molly was in fact a qualified Army Medic and trained professional that Sam's friends had relaxed. They had bombarded Molly with questions about the things she had seen and questioned her techniques and treatment of different injuries. Molly had taken it all in her stride, patiently talked them through what she was doing to Sam and why, constantly reassuring them and Sam, that all would be alright. By the end she had the group eating out of the palm of her hand. Sam's teacher, seeing how enthusiastic and interested the children were on the subject, had approached Molly about the idea of coming in to talk to the class and possibly teaching them some basic first aid. Many of the parents, most of whom were aware of Molly's military background, had readily agreed that it would be a great learning experience and happily gave their consent.
After she was approached she had a lengthy discussion with both Rebecca and Charles about whether it was a good idea. They had both agreed it would be nice for the kids to learn about life in the Army from a woman's perspective as well as develop important life skills that would benefit them later on. Rebecca had joked that it was never too early to start training the medics of tomorrow, something Sam had already taken to heart. With Molly's fears put to rest, they then set about forming answers to the potentially awkward questions the kids could throw at Molly. The rumour mill had been rife with stories of Charles injuries and how he had been saved by a young medic (who later became his wife) and had been awarded a Military Cross for her bravery during a previous mission. Molly didn't want things to become uncomfortable, especially for Sam. Kids being Kids, would probably want to know all the gory and inappropriate details, and Molly wanted to have something ready just in case. They had talked it through with Sam and hand agreed to only discuss it if he was comfortable with it. Which he had been.
Molly was drawn from her musings at the sound of a door opening. She looked up and met the smiling face of Miss Hollis, Sam's teacher. "Thanks for agreeing to do this Molly. You ready?" with a laugh Molly nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."
So far so good. The class had been particularly enamoured by Molly's medals and paid rapid attention as Molly shared the story of why she received them. Afterwards they had bombarded her with questions, desperate to learn more.
"You got blown up by a mine?"
"Wow, did you get to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace? What was it like? Is it huge? I bet it's massive. Did you have to learn to curtsey and say thank you ma'am? Ohhh were you nervous? I would be. I'd love to meet the Queen."
"Cor you mean you ACTUALLY got to hang out of a helicopter? WOW! You're like a lady JAMES BOND!" Molly chuckled. "Not quite. In fact, I got into trouble because I didn't listen and follow orders as I should have." One young lad looked anxiously at Molly. "Was the soldier alright? I bet you must have been really scared." Molly gave a sad smile as she remembered her old friend.
"Yeah, Smurf (that's what we called him) was fine after a few weeks. It can be scary sometimes but you have to try and lock the fear away in a little box and do the job you're trained for. My friend learnt a valuable lesson that day. You must always listen to those in charge and follow their instruction to the letter. Whether it be listening to your teachers, the police, your parents or your team captain. They do it to keep you safe and protect you." The class all looked at each other.
"Yes Miss Molly." The chorused. A young girl nervously raised her hand. Molly had noticed her at the beginning of her talk. She had raised her hand a few times, as if poised to ask a question, but changed her mind and jerked her hand into her lap before anyone saw. Molly gestured that it was ok to ask her question.
"Miss Molly. Sam says you're a hero for saving his Dad. Is that true?" Molly's breath caught in her throat as she shared a quick glance at Sam, who had the decency to blush. She really needed to remember that kids can be just as perceptive as adults. After a reassuring glance from Miss Hollis Molly spoke. "Yeah I did save Mr James' life. As a medic, it's my job to treat injuries on the ground to make sure they get to the hospital safely for further treatment. My job can involve anything from treating blisters, to sunburn, to more serious injuries like gunshot wounds."
"What happened?" Molly shared a quick glance with Sam. At his nod Molly continued.
"Well we were on a secret mission to capture a bad guy. We had gotten information to say he would be driving through a check point at a particular time. We planned it so we could stop the truck and arrest the bad man to stop him hurting other people. It turned out he was hiding in one of the trucks in disguise and took us by surprise. In all the confusion Mr James and Smurf got shot. I was able to stop the bleeding and call for a helicopter to get them back to the hospital." The class had gone deadly silent. Sam was smiling proudly at Molly as his friends tried to come to grips with what Molly had done.
"So wait, you mean you treated both soldiers for gunshot wounds. At the same time?" one of Sam's friends asked incredulously as Molly nodded. "Sometimes you are the only one trained to do so. You could be responsible for keeping 12 men safe on your own. I did what I was trained to do. I needed to stop the bleeding and get the med evac there as soon as possible."
"But Miss Molly what did you do?" Molly gave a laugh as they at inadvertently gotten to the more practical side of her visit. "I'm glad you asked….Milly is it? With an incident like that you have to make sure you stop the bleeding as soon as possible. Unfortunately Mr James was shot in the chest and leg. With gunshot wounds in the abdominal area, that's around your tummy, you need to treat that area first before anywhere else. If you don't they could bleed out and die. As I was doing that I realised that Surf hadn't taken cover from the shooting still going on. As i pulled him down I realised he had also been shot in the arm. Luckily, he was able to treat his injury himself by applying pressure to the wound using a tourniquit, whereas Mr James couldn't. In an emergency you need to assess who needs help the most. I knew that Mr James' injuries were serious because if I didn't stop the bleeding things could get difficult. Milly asked what I did. In this case I used bandages to pack the wound to then I placed another bandage around it to keep it in place and stop the bleeding. I then moved on to treat Smurf. I applied lots of pressure on his arm and then applied a bandage to stop the bleeding."
"WOW you mean you saved two people at once? You're not just an ordinary hero. You're like a real life superhero!" A boy at the back called out. The rest looked at Molly in awe before breaking into excited chatter. Miss Hollis, noticing how uncomfortable Molly was, stepped in to quieten them down. "OK, Ok that's enough." Molly could only manage a weak smile in return. "Nope. I'm no hero mate. I was only doing my job. I'm trained to save lives. I'd have done the same for anyone else. Now then, who wants to learn some first aid?" With that, the class were soon split into groups and set about role playing and treating all manner of injuries. Molly couldn't help but marvel at the imagination of some of Sam's classmates. By the end of the afternoon the kids had questioned Molly extensively about her uniform and had thoroughly explored the contents of her med burgen. She had even shown them where to find her serial number and blood type on her uniform in case of an emergency. They were fascinated by the idea that Molly could write numbers and letters on patients faces as a way of communication someone's condition and treatment already provided.
Although slightly disappointed they couldn't start drawing on each other's faces, they threw themselves into learning how to treat each other for injuries. They took turns role playing being the medic and casualty and treated each other for injuries ranging from nose bleeds and burns and learnt how to take an accurate temperature and monitor and check it regularly. The class had loved learning how to treat bumps, grazes and cuts as well as how to apply bandages and support slings on each other. They created thier own labels with their army reference numbers and bloody types and wrote codes to each other to check if they knew what injuries each other had. They took great pleasure in inventing various weird and wonderful injuries just so they could get a sling or a bandage, as though it was a badge of honour for some heroic deed. Molly also ensured that, if nothing else, they knew who to call in the event of an emergency and what to say on the phone when dialling 999.
Molly and Miss Hollis were currently walking around observing groups of children as they practised placing each other in the recovery position. The class had even come up with their own acronym to help them remember DR ABC. " Don't Run After Burping Children. Various children were seen wandering around shouting for help before shaking each other to try and get a response. They were so loud that Miss Hollis had to reassure other teachers that nobdy was in any real danger. Molly had set them a challenge to see who could be put into the recovery position without giggling. So far three pairs had completed it without bursting into laughter. Even Miss Hollis had succumbed to the giggles as she let Sam place her in the recovery position, to the delight of the class.
As the day drew to a close the class had enthusiastically thanked Molly for coming. Later, as she stood with Sam waiting for Charles to collect them she overheard some of Sam's classmates talking. "Mum! Mum! You'll never guess what we learnt today. Sam's Dad's girlfriend came to talk to us. She's a Lance Corporal in the Army in the Royal Army Medical Core. She saves people. She showed us lots of medical stuff. She was sooo cool! She was a real hero. She rescued Mr James and saved his life. I want to be that brave when I'm older." Molly couldn't help but smile as Sam took her hand and let her to the car where Charles was waiting. "How did it go?" Molly grinned.
"Yeah I reckon it was alright." Sam shook his head in disbelief.
"Alright? Dad Molls was the nuts! She was brilliant!" Charles grinned and patted Molly's knee.
"I knew you would be. You had nothing to worry about. Though judging by some of the comments from Sam's class I think you've just inspired the next generation of superheroes. Sounds to me like you've got a bunch of medics in the making. There'll be a platoon of keen and eager little soldiers raiding the first aid kits at home tonight. Just you wait!" Molly couldn't help but laugh at the sudden image of a group of eight year olds trying to place their parents in the recovery position before bedtime.
"I think it might be best if you do the school run for a while Bossman!" Charles couldn't help but chuckle. "Aww is Dawesy scared of the big bad parents? He teased. Molly merely rolled her eyes and told him to stick his sarcastic comments up his arse.