Using patterns

I reflect on an enjoyable day where I have been refreshing my knowledge about First Aid.

It has been near on 20 years since I undertook my last First Aid course and I still remember going along with my mother and a number of her work mates to several weeks of night classes at the Emerlad Ambulance Station.

I can say the recall on a few things was there and some were even displayed without concious effort (putting a person into a recovery position).

Only a few things have changed and in a more simplified matter. It was a contrast to have an instructor which took an outcome approach. Where as in the past training had been quite pedantic on how to bandage and where to tie a sling, this approach was more about 'fit for purpose'.

The one thing that did ring with me though was his marking of the end of day quiz. The instructor would have spent no more than half a second in browsing the results of the 10 question multichoice quiz to ascertain a persons score. For those of us who passed (> 8/10) this was supported but for those who did not do so well, they questioned how the instructor was able to arrive at the mark with only a cursory glance.

His response was along the lines of "I have marked thousands of these tests and know the pattern of the answers." He was comparing the pattern of valid answers with what appeared on paper as opposed to item by item comparison and validation.

I found this quite refreshing and look forward to the second and final day of my First Aid refresher.

Thanks

Cory