Accident on the Playground: Team Response with an Observer

A team first aid assessment challenge: each team arrives at a simulated scene on the playground with one or two victims (a fall with a possible fracture, fainting, a bleeding wound) and must organize with roles: leader, 911 call, victim care and scene control. An observer times the response and rates coordination with a checklist, and the feedback is used for a second scenario.

How to play

1. Review Check-Call-Care, the four team roles and how to make a 911 call with the key information (5 min).
2. Form five teams of five or six; in each team one person is the observer with the checklist and the rest split the roles (2 min).
3. Scenario 1: at the signal, the team reaches the scene, reads the case card held by the victim actor and acts for 4 minutes (5 min).
4. Observer feedback in 2 minutes: time to the call, whether the leader coordinated, whether the scene was secured and what was missed (3 min).
5. Scenario 2 with a different case, rotating roles and the actor, applying the feedback received (5 min).
6. Each team compares both checklists and writes the three improvements made and the one still pending; whole-group wrap-up (10 min).

Rules

• The 911 call is simulated with a turned-off phone or a tablet; nobody calls for real.
• The victim actor is not moved except into the recovery position when the case calls for it.
• The actor lies on a mat and may stop the simulation at any time.
• The word drill is always said at the start so nobody at school gets alarmed.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: takes the 911 call role or the leader role, coordinating without moving around.
• Hearing impairment: gets the case in writing and the team agrees on signs for the leader's instructions.
• Sensitivity to blood or others' pain: may choose the observer or scene control role.

Learning goals

• Coordinate a team first aid response.
• Apply Check-Call-Care and the 911 call effectively.
• Improve the group's performance based on objective feedback.

Equipment for a class of 25

• tablets or phones: 5
• exercise mats: 5
• blankets: 5
• bandages: 10
• worksheets: 15
• stopwatch: 5

Teacher tip

Let the staff on duty and the front office know before you start so nobody mistakes the drill for a real accident. Prepare case cards with clear signs (breathing, not responding, bleeding) that the actor reads or shows.

More activities like this

More main activities for High School