Madrid, teaching emergencies' first step

The community of Madrid will be the first territory in Spain where primary education students’ will be able to acquire knowledge in Civil Protection, Emergency, First Aid and Road Safety Education. Two years after @LuisserranoR uploaded a tweet pleading for these contents to be included in compulsory education; Madrid will include these topics in primary education next course (2014-2015).

It is a first step and we (those who participate in Edcivemerg) are proud and grateful to all who have supported the idea from the beginning: authorities, first responders, scientific societies, journalists and individuals.

Among them today I want to thank you Alcorcon’s, Mayor David Perez , who lend us the city as a testing bench, so all primary students age 12 have already been trained. My gratitude is also for the Community of Madrid, the first who will take into consideration all our objetives.

The topics will be in different subjects

It happens to me that almost every time a journalist interviews me asking for the question she or he thinks that we are talking of a new subject. So I have to explain them that what we have are several topics distributed in several subjects.

So, contents related to First Aid will be included in Science, as they are in other European countries. They also are in Civic Education as well in Physical Education. In this last case, linked to to sports-related injuries.

The Road Safety Education files are gathered in Social Sciences. Their main goal is to acquire knowledge to help consolidate and correct road behavior habits. Among the learning standards are getting to know the meaning of traffic signs; and recognizing the importance of following the rules, both as a pedestrian and as a driver.

The topics related to Civil Protection will be included in Madrid in Social Science, and they will be developed along the six years of primary education.

This said, I am sure this is only a first step and all our students will be capable, in due time, to act as first responders and save a life.

Let’s hope the rest of Spain will also include all these requirements as soon as possible.

#Edcivemerg, a dream coming true

A year and a half ago, a group of professional related to the emergency field joined our efforts to ask for a wish long time wanted: teaching all the children in Spain First Aid, Civil Protection and contents related to Emergencies, within one or more compulsory subjects, so we can ensure that all children will be capable not only to protect themselves but also to act as first responders while they wait for the emergency services to arrive. Today, the Senate approved a Parliamentary bill in this sense, and we all hope that it will be a reality in schools as soon as possible.

It’s been a long way since February 1^st, 2012 when a group of people joined our efforts in #Edcivemerg to make this dream a reality, spreading the word that our children today can save lives tomorrow, as I already explained here, and today it is a benchmark marking the starting point.

Edcivemerg members in front of the Senate

Besides expressing my happiness and emotion, I wish to say thank you, first of all to all my colleagues who have been working without dismay, but also to the media, the professionals who have given their support in social media, as well as the scientific and proffesional societies and the politicians who backed up the initiative all around the country. 

We had a dream, and today it has come true!