NYAA GOLD AWARDED!

On the 30th October 2014, I was awarded with the NYAA Gold Achievement Award, and shook hands with the current President, Tony Tan.

3 years of effort, another year of waiting. I DID IT.

Mabel.
30/10/14.

Singapore International Water Festival

This first-aid duty was for the eve of the Singapore International Water Festival, organised by Singapore Polytechnic and Public Utilities Board. It is an annual event that has been held for 4 consecutive years.

This year, the highlight of the festival is the Raft Race, whereby secondary and tertiary students build their rafts out of recycled material and row down a short course. They are judged based on innovation, creativity, and functionality.

I reported at 1pm and was released at 4.30pm. There were no casualties. The Department of Student Development calls for first-aiders to be on standby just in case something happens.

First Aid on Wheels 1

First Aid on Wheels at East Coast Park is a regular weekly initiative by Singapore Red Cross.
volunteers set up a First Aid post at section C of East Coast Park every weekend to provide first aid to bikers, rollerbladers, anyone who happens to need it.

the team consists of 2 roving teams, each on a route in either direction, and a stay-in team at the post.
we each took turns to be part of the roving teams, and stayed in the post as well.

majority of the casualty counts that day were abrasions and minor scratches, with no one needing to be evacuated.

i'm looking forward to participating in this effort again, as i think it is a worthwhile effort, and the members of the public seem to appreciate it as well. while roving, a few bikers peddled alongside us to ask about our duties, and to thank us.

i also received my Singapore Red Cross Passport today. we're supposed to record the days we volunteered for Red Cross duty, as a personal log, and get the team leader in charge for that day to cross-check and sign.

Mabel. 5/5/12.

SB freshman orientation

i reported at the School of Business foyer at 1pm, as the only certified first aider on duty that day.

the freshmen went out for flag day, so i was on standby.

left school at 3pm without the need to attend to any casualties/injuries.

Mabel. 12/4/12.

St Luke's ElderCare community service

today we went to volunteer at St. Luke's ElderCare.

the staff were all foreigners from Phillipines and Myanmar, but there were local volunteers helping out as well.

the clients (as the head staff calls them) were all rather warm and welcoming, so interacting with them was interesting and comfortable. however, there was this elderly guy with a triad tattoo who kept throwing his temper at anyone who tried to speak to him, and during lunch when i approached him and smiled, he smiled in return. i thought, "hey, maybe he's not so bad after all!" when he started to make kissy faces at me. =.=

there were 3 elderly males who looked too young for their age. one was a 71 year old retired lecturer from Singapore Polytechnic, and he looks only 50+! same with a couple of other retirees at the facility. it must be the relaxed and joyful lifestyle they lead now.

we did some morning warmups, art-and-craft, and exercise with them, and stayed to serve lunch.

the elderly lady i paired up with has a kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but she was really kind to me. during the art-and-craft session, we were supposed to do paper weaving to create a rabbit card. i put my own personal twist to it by placing the cotton ball at the side as a tail instead of as a nose like everyone else did, and tore a triangular piece of paper as the nose/mouth.

when we saw how i applied my creativity, she kept smiling at me and agreed that it was very cute. that made my day.

while chatting with the clients during lunch, i started conversation with a retired lawyer, and what she said to a fellow schoolmate of mine made me glow with joy, but almost want to run away in embarrassment. she praised me as "warm, sincere, bubbly, and factual" among many others, after just a brief 10minute chit-chat with her about why some poly students sleep in class.

if the facility was nearer to home, i think i may continue to volunteer there on my own, even without SPRC organising a community service trip there again.

Mabel. 14/3/12.

CPR + AED

on Total Defence Day, our school organised a free CPR + AED course for us to register.

at this 3-hour course, we learnt and practised the basics of CPR + AED, before taking the test.

it was mainly a revision for me, and a refreshment of CPR + AED.

from when i took my SFA till now, a few amendments have been made;

1.) no need to check for pulse

2.) no need to check for blockage of airway

these are the 2 most outstanding changes.

in the end, every person at my station passed the test, and are expected to receive our CPR + AED certificate soon.

Mabel. 15/2/12.

Poly 50

i volunteered as a first aider to be on duty during Singapore Polytechnic's Poly 50 2011.

it is an annual event that sees teams of 5 to 10, running 50 rounds around a route like a relay.

i heard from first aiders who volunteered last year that there were 2 cases of broken bones, and heat injuries are very common.

this year, thankfully there were no serious cases, with majority being minor scrapes and cuts as a result of falling onto the gravel pathway while running.

Mabel.

9/11/11.

Formula 1 Night Race 2011

i am stationed at Pit Zone's Advanced Medical Post (AMP).

DAY 1;

the first case we attended to was a call-out at the stands, a male in his 30s was "not feeling right" after drinking a cup of beer at 5pm in the sun. he was neither dizzy, nauseous, nor had a headache. however, there have been cases where people were allergic to alcohol and had bad reactions, especially when dehydrated, so we have to stay and observe him. in the end, we drove him back to our AMP in the emergency buggy and let him stay there till he got better.

our second unique case was a guy asking for panadol for tooth ache.

the day almost ended with nothing serious, except after we got the stand-down order and was packing up, we received a call out to the suites. a waitress was down with pain in her foot. turns out that she can't stand for long, bought new shoes for work the day before which we tight, and had blood circulation to her feet cut off for the whole day. the doctors diagnosed her with bilateral plantal cramps, but as it was so serious she flinched whenever we touched he legs, and could not stand on her own, we recommended her to be evacuated to the hospital, yet her mother told her to go home, so we sent her on a buggy out.

while we were tending to her, a tipsy patron jumped from second floor of the suits onto a patrol buggy as the staircase gate was closed. intoxication is to be handled by security, but we put the stretcher and neck brace on standby just in case. he landed fine.

on the way home, i lost my pass.


DAY 2;

other than giving out the usual plasters to ladies with heels, and the doctors issuing panadols (especially to staff during the afternoon sun), the day was pretty much uneventful.


DAY 3;

the Formula 1 race ended with Vettel from Red Bull winning. the moment Vettel stepped out of his car to give a victory pose, fireworks were set off. less than 100m away from my AMP was where they were launched, so my fellow first-aiders, doctors, and nurses all stood up to watch it.

BEAUTIFUL. we had the best view of all.

orders to stand-down were given at around 11pm, as the races ended early, so being issued an all-zone pass, we could walk anywhere we wanted after we were off-duty.

as we were about to head to Zone 4 Padang to catch the last half and final performance of Linkin Park, a call came in about a lady bleeding from her feet. it sounded serious so we took the emergency buggy there, but when we reached, it just turned out to be a surface wound when she ripped off her plaster too fast.

we spent the next hour drenching her foot with saline to remove the zinc oxide plaster, and rebandaging both feet for her.

by the time we ended, it was already 1am, so we took the last public transport back.


the Formula 1 Grand Prix Night Race 2011 was an enriching experience, and i would like to volunteer again next year.



Mabel.
23-25/9/11.

MMA session 8

went for training early.

today, instead of the usual training, we did 3 rounds of shadow boxing.

following the match time of 5 mins, we executed multiple strikes against an imaginary opponent.

5 minutes continuous striking is a long time, and very soon, i ran out of moves in just the first round.

after that, we did a varient of sparring.

3 groups went each time, the first doing striking, second doing full-on sparring, and the third doing rolling.

i had the most fun watching the boys flail around.

the most common injury in MMA is a broken toenail. so far we've used 3 packets of tissue and plasters cleaning people's toes.

Mabel.
14/9/11.

5.30-10.

Red Cross F1 Training

today i went for 4 hours of training in due of F1 duty at the Red Cross House at 15 Penang Lane.

for 5 years, Singapore's Red Cross Society will be providing first aid cover for the Formula 1 Grand Prix night race in Singapore. this is the 4th year.

what was covered was basically our posts, assignments, inventory, chain of command, Dos and Don'ts.

i am assigned to the Advanced Medical Post in the Pit Zone.

looking forward to the excitement on the track.

Mabel.

10/9/11.

MMA session 7

This session was mainly a recap of the basics, being arm bar, triangular choke, from a close guard.

did not spend much time training, as i arrived late, and left earlier than usual to send a friend off.

Mabel.

9/9/10.

MMA session 6

finally i'm back at MMA!!

after almost a month's break to concentrate on exams, i was very out of practice.

after the usual training, we had sparring, and i participated in the ground fighting segment.

i felt the after-effects of not working out for a month, and lost to my partner by an armbar after the whole round was over.

i'll be back next week with more muscles~!

Mabel.

2/9/11.

APC 1 & 2

i went for Abseiling Proficiency Course 1 & 2 on the 30th of July, and 20th - 21st of August.

APC 1's syllabus is on abseiling safety, with a belay line, soft lock, and triple leg loop.

APC 2's syllabus was on rigging the main, belay, and safety lines, belaying, abseiling with an autolock, without belay, self-rescue and the Single Rope Technique.

also covered and practiced were the miscellanous hitches and knots, and prussicks.

i passed both APC 1 and 2.

am now waiting for my certificate to arrive. ^-^

we were also given a preview into APC 3, where changing rope and anchor line efficiency is required.

i managed to attempt the changing rope technique, and succeeded, although i also found 3 different ways to jam myself. first with a single, second with a double, and third with a triple prussick jammed way beyond the reach of my short hands.

Mabel.

21/8/11.

MMA session 5

as this was the first MMA session this year to fall during the month of Ramadan, training official started at 7.45pm, although a few of us were there by 5pm to start training on our own.

we went through the basics of striking, parrying, using the legs to parry, slides, etc.

Mabel.

5/8/11.

MMA session 4

at today's session, i had my first ground fighting experience. it's called "Rolling", where you try to to pic your opponent down and score points using locks, chokeholds, and manipulations.

S and i were the only 2 girls who attended that session, as most seniors were dead tired after course submissions that day.

for 3 whole minutes, S and i were evenly matched.

she used her weight and bulk against me so i could not pin her down, but i used my speed and flexibility to keep myself above her.

in the end, both of us did not score any points.

during this training, i made up my mind to learn and master all the MMA techniques taught to me, and be able to execute them smoothly and effectively.

Mabel.

29/7/11.

International Sports Challenge

dates i volunteered: 22/7/11, 29/7/11. both fridays.

this was an event organised by Singapore Polytechnic's International Student Club.

the purpose of the event is to encourage friendship and sportsmanship through a series of sports games.

each team goes through a challenge of basketball and soccer, among 2 more other games.

as a first-aid volunteer, my duty is just to ensure that whoever gets injured during the events receive proper first-aid, and subsequent medical attention if necessary.

the first day went by smoothly. the only injury was a bleeding pimple.

the second day went by without any accidents, even though the players were rougher than before. the only thing i attended to was foot cramps.

Mabel.

MMA session 3

today's MMA session was a rather exciting one.

as usual, we learnt more holds, and how to break our falls using our arms.

the holds were a little too awkward for the other 2 girls and i to do, so we skipped out on those, and practiced the breaks more.

after trying many times, we only got it after someone threw us down.

a rather scary yet effective way to learn.

at this MMA session, i had to apply standard first-aid onto a fellow trainee.

as boys will always be boys, they were fooling around the impact-absorbing mat, and decided to do double chokeslams onto each other.

the person who wanted to be chokeslammed was a scrawny year 1, with weak arteries.

halfway during the chokeslam, the pressure in his brain was too high and he blacked out. about 30cm before he hit the mat, his nasal artery burst and started spewing blood.

i immediately went to retrieve my first-aid kit and stemmed the bleeding.

he was fine and conscious, and the bleeding stopped after about 2 minutes 35 seconds.

i cleaned the cut with an alcohol pad and sealed it with a plaster.

less than 15 minutes after that, he was up and wanting to train again.

i have not seen such enthusiasm for training before, and it made me want to master the holds and chokes we learnt in the previous sessions.

during this incident, the vice-president of our club came up to me and appointed me as the club first-aider. so i no longer have to pay fees, and i get an errand boy to buy whatever i need in the first-aid box for the club.

xD~! MMA is fun!

Mabel.

22/7/11.

Edgefield Dance Day

location: Edgefield Primary school

time: 3 - 7pm

purpose: they were trying to break the Guiness World and Singapore records for the most number of people doing the chacha at the same time.

i was there as a fellow Red Cross volunteer, along with 2 other first-aiders from my school, and a dozen other volunteers from elsewhere.

they broke Singapore's record, but was short of the Guiness World Record by around 700 people.

no one got injured, but we had a fun time observing people during the dance/parade.

Mabel. 17/7/11.

MMA session 2

this MMA session tired me out so much that at 9.30pm, i could not even lift my legs to kick properly.

this may also have been an indirect result of meeting up with S to train at her place before MMA, but this session was exceptionally grueling, with learning 2 new chokeholds, practising proper MuayThai kicks, and a brief physical training session.

i am now more aware of my speed and physical built.

Mabel.

15/7/11.

MMA session 1

this was the 1st official Mixed Martial Arts training session i've attended since the trial, and it was a very fun and enriching experience.

we started warmups with basic stretching before moving onto the floor exercises like rolls/crawls/sprawls/shrimps.

it was extremely embarrassing, and being only 1 of the 2 girls present, we were extremely hesitant about joining in the floor exercises.

after warming up, we each practised kicking a mit 10 times for each leg.

normally, MMA training sessions last 2 hours, 7-9pm. however, at 8.30pm, we stopped to have a sparring session, and overan till 10.30pm.

after sparring ended, most people left, but i stayed behind to do more mit training till 11pm.

i have never done 4 hours of training and still felt so fresh before.

i'm looking forward to the next training session.

Mabel.

8/7/11.