First Aid OSCE: Timed Stations with a Checklist
A hands-on first aid exam in OSCE format: five 3-minute stations, each with a written case on the door, where the student acts on a classmate playing the victim while an assessor marks a checklist. After the rotation, each station shares its checklist and students repeat the one where they missed most.
How to play
- Review the Check-Call-Care sequence and present the five stations: scene assessment and 911 call, CPR on a manikin, recovery position, choking, and bleeding with a bandage (5 min).
- Form five groups of six; each station has an assessor with the checklist, an actor and four students who go through one at a time (2 min).
- Exam rotation: each student reads the case, acts for 3 minutes and the assessor marks each item as done or not done without interrupting, across all five stations (18 min).
- Feedback: each assessor explains in 1 minute the item most often missed at their station (5 min).
- Each student reviews their checklists, picks the station with the most missing items and repeats it with a partner until it is complete (5 min).
Rules
- For choking, the Heimlich maneuver is simulated by placing the hands only, with no real thrust on a classmate.
- CPR compressions are done only on the manikin, never on a person.
- The actor can stop the simulation at any time if uncomfortable.
- The assessor does not help during the test; questions are answered during feedback.
Variations
Easier
Run three 4-minute stations and include a hint in the case about what to do.
Standard
Five 3-minute OSCE stations with a checklist and a retry of the weakest one.
Harder
Cases combine two problems (unconscious but breathing and bleeding) and the student must prioritize.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: does the assessment, call and bandaging stations, and at the CPR station talks a partner through it.
- Hearing impairment: gets the case in writing and the assessor signals start and finish with a card.
- Anxiety: does the first station as assessor to see the format before being tested.
Learning goals
- Apply basic first aid protocols in simulated cases.
- Act in an orderly and quick way under time pressure.
- Spot their own mistakes with a checklist and correct them.
Equipment for a class of 25
- CPR manikins: 4
- exercise mats: 6
- worksheets: 30
- stopwatch: 5
- bandages: 10
- tablets or phones: 2
Teacher tip
Pick as assessors students who already master each protocol and rotate them in a second session. Disinfect the manikin faces between uses.
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