In a world where accidents and emergencies can happen at any moment, equipping people with basic first aid skills has become increasingly important – particularly on farms and in rural areas with longer ambulance response times. Research shows that only 5% of people in Ireland are trained in first aid.

‘Don’t be a spectator, be a lifesaver’ is the motto of Aid Avengers, a group of five teenagers from Coláiste an Chroí Naofa in Carrignavar, a village north of Cork city, who have been providing primary and secondary school students with the knowledge and equipment needed to learn first aid skills. This includes cleaning minor cuts, treating a minor burn, carrying out CPR or saving someone from choking.

Fifth-year students Carrie O’Shea, Mikayla O’Connell, Louie Guichard, Emma Florish and Amy O’Sullivan, joined forces during a Transition Year Young Social Innovators (YSI) module and created the Aid Avengers initiative.

This was inspired by the personal experiences of accidents that the students had witnessed, particularly, for Amy as a lifeguard, and Mikayla, while riding horses or on duty with the Red Cross.

“It can go from being a normal day to someone getting seriously injured very quickly,” says Mikayla.

“During the Transition Year module, we were told we had to come up with a topic that we all had an interest in. We chose first aid, as we all felt it was an important skill that many people don’t have,” explains Amy.

It takes between 30 and 50 minutes for an ambulance to get to Carrignavar, because it is so rural

The group from Carrignavar, which lies east of Whitechurch and west of the R614 road, initially began by organising information days with first years, showing them basic first aid skills and giving out leaflets and handouts with easy-to-follow information.

“Along with this, we started spreading awareness on the importance of learning first-response skills to help in emergencies, with our Aid Avengers logo. There are so few teenagers and young people who don’t have first aid knowledge and we wanted to improve that,” says Mikayla.

Growing up in a rural community, they know the wait times for ambulances are higher.

“That’s why it’s so important to start with first years and people our age, it could be something so simple like putting pressure on a wound, that can make a big difference. Especially because we are from a rural place, it’s not as simple as ringing an ambulance and one comes straight away,” adds Mikayala.

Amy is from a dairy farm, so she knows how dangerous farms can be.

“On farms, you hear all about farm safety and how quickly accidents can happen.

"Even if you did a 40-minute class of first aid once every two weeks, that’s a life you could save. It takes between 30 and 50 minutes for an ambulance to get to Carrignavar, because it is so rural. You can make a big difference during that period if you know what to do,” says Amy.

International competition

The group entered their project into the Ardonagh Community Trust Brighter Future Prize. Launched in 2021, the Bright Future Prize empowers and invests in the next generation of leaders and innovators.

The opportunity is open to teenagers, who live anywhere. The Ardonagh Group has a presence in Ireland, Australia, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Greece and South Africa.

Aid Avengers was selected as one of the top four projects in the world, winning the Community Project title and €11,500 to help progress their project. “We had imposter syndrome, it was unbelievable,” says Louie.

Since winning, the group sends in progress reports to Ardonagh, keeping them up-to-date on the impact they are having and what initiatives they are working on.

“From this money, we have purchased a lot of training first aid equipment, which we have used to show over 500 people basic first aid skills they could use in their day-to-day life.

"This included CPR manikins, training epi-pens and choking vests, to help improve the level of training we are able to provide with proper training equipment,” says Amy.

“Before we got our equipment, we were carrying out information sessions with first years, which wasn’t as effective. Now we can use the equipment to make it more practical and realistic – students are taking in a lot of knowledge and can simulate CPR and choking,” says Mikayala.

Sometimes, you can feel lost in secondary school, but through doing this project and something so important, it shows us we do have a voice

One of their teachers, Mr Sean Murphy is currently doing his first aid course, and is hoping to go on to do a train-the-trainer course, so he can train up other teachers, SNAs and students with the equipment they have.

Driven to enhance life-saving skills among young people both locally and across Ireland, the group’s goal is to educate a new generation of first aiders by building a network of trained young individuals in communities throughout the county, ensuring better preparedness in the region.

Over the last year, the students have held open days and talks, inviting external responders in to give demonstrations to their school. This included the local fire department and ambulance services who went through first response skills and what equipment they use.

“Getting to talk to people and educate them is the best part. Sometimes, you can feel lost in secondary school, but through doing this project and something so important, it shows us we do have a voice and when you use it you can make a real difference,” says Carrie.

The students also have a petition appealing to politicians for first aid to be mandatory in schools, as they feel it is a subject that would add to the curriculum and make a real difference in saving lives.

The group surveyed people who had completed some of their training and 98% of their respondents said first aid should be mandatory for first years in schools. As a result, they started a petition to do just that and have 600 signatures on it so far.

“If young people learn these basic skills, they are not only equipped to deal with an emergency, but they are also going home and educating their family members. Imagine the number of people you could impact if you made it a subject on the curriculum,” says Amy.