The Sisterhood Project - Funding first aid

The Sisterhood Project is a registered charity started by two sisters to provide free infant and child First Aid to low income and vulnerable Victorian parents and carers.

We want to prevent death - Save children's lives - through education and breaking down barriers to that education.

 

If your child is injured or in an accident, knowing First Aid could save their life.

 

Everyone who cares for children should learn how to perform First Aid, but not everyone can afford to.

 

First Aid training can cost $90 to $140. It seems like nothing when you measure this cost against a person's life; however, for people struggling to make ends meet, this could mean going without food or rent for the week.

 

Hi, I am Skye; I live in the western suburbs of Melbourne with my partner, and our two young sons.

 

My Sister, Grace, is a Paediatric Intensive Care Nurse who lives on a farm in Victoria with her husband and three active kids under 10. In her line of work, she has seen first-hand the outcomes of children being injured and the positive impact knowing First Aid can genuinely have on those outcomes.

 

IMAGE: Skye and Grace Larson

Together we want to empower parents to know what to do in an emergency. This knowledge can significantly improve infant and child survival rates, reduce pressure on our hospitals and save lives.

 

Injury has now replaced disease as the leading cause of death in Australian children. The most common causes of child injuries are falls, road accidents, drowning, poisonings, burns and scalds.

 

Most of these situations are preventable; however, sometimes, despite trying our best, children can still get injured, so knowing what to do in an emergency is paramount.

 

Research shows that First Aid training has a significant impact on the outcomes of adults and children who suffer an accident, injury, or cardiac arrest.

 

In Victoria, survival to hospital discharge for children who suffer an out of hospital cardiac arrest has increased from 33% in 2000 to 60% in 2016, primarily due to first responders and access to defibrillators in the community (Nehme et al. 2018).

So far we have been humbled by the generosity and support shown to us. Donations and in-kind support have meant we have been able to register The Sisterhood Project as an official charity and now we can commence the grunt work.

 

Your money will go towards running costs for The Sisterhood Project, commencing our pilot program in Shepparton and Ballarat. We are also designing first aid courses to better suit the cohorts that have faced challenges accessing them. So funds will also go towards this work and of-course will fund the courses for the parents and carers.

 

Please help us reduce the rates of childhood death from injury in Victoria. Please donate to help us make a difference.

IMAGE: The Board members of The Sisterhood Project