Braydon Bird

Community Service
Nurse 4020
Merit Badge Class 3/9 (4 Hours)
For this experience I help teach a portion of a first-aid merit badge class to 3
groups of young scouts. Although the first aid is very basic, such as what the s/s of
heat stroke and shock are, what to do with a snake bite, and basic CPR (not
certified). It was probably one of the most fun volunteer experiences I have had.
The scouts are all so eager to learn and participate, and I was actually really
surprised at the amount of knowledge many of them already had in first-aid.
Spectrum Academy Health Fair - 3/27: (6 Hours)
This volunteer opportunity was actually requested by my little sister who is a
educator at a school for K-12 students with special needs (mostly autisms). When I
arrived with the other health care volunteers I was asked to help run a station which
talked about exercise, and how important it is. I was so nervous about helping out
because I have almost no experience with special needs children in this type of
educational setting. I do however have plenty experience of seeing the bruises and
bite marks my sister regularly comes home with. Once the first few groups of
students came through the station I got a lot more comfortable thanks to the other
volunteers who had a lot more experience with special needs. It was actually
probably more educational for me to learn the different teaching strategies and
communications techniques the teachers at the school used with working with these
students. The greatest risk factor for these students was lack of education, and risk
for sedentary lifestyle. When I was asking the kids how much they played outside
many of them stated that they didnt not often and instead preferred to play video
games and watch TV in their free times.
Ragnar Relay - Zion - 4/24 4/25: (12 Hours)
I found out about this volunteer opportunity through some friends from
California that were coming to town to participate in the year Ragnar relay held in
Zion which is a relay race consisting of 3 legs in which teams of runners are running
24 hours a day. After trying to convince me to participate by running in the relay
they told me that I could participate as a volunteer. On the 24 th I spent 6 hours
between two different hydration stations helping to hand out water and help
prevent dehydration. At the initial station at the beginning of the 2 nd leg of the race I
actually didnt quite a bit of education because many of the participants in this
event are not regular runners and are participating as more of a social event. I
helped to educated new runners to the hydrations needs and s/s of exhaustion and
dehydration. The 25th I was stationed in one of the first aid booths, which offered

basic care such as wound dressings and splinting. 10 years ago when I first
graduated high school and became an EMT I spent a lot of time in first aid stations
and it was fun to participate in them again. The population for this event was mostly
relatively healthy and active individuals between the ages of 18 and 40. For most
of them the greatest health risk would be trauma or accidental injury, however as
mentioned before some of the newer uneducated runners would also be at risk for
dehydration, and heat exhaustion.