What did the teacher of these students learn in training?
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| Photo by Corey Seeman https://www.flickr.com/photos/cseeman/8348973979 |
Yesterday in the library, three school nurses
Showed slides with wounds real and imagined
A leg blown off here, a bullet hole there
Facing the fairy tale section, I learned
To place a tourniquet "high to survive"
To compress a laceration without peeking
(It might disturb the clotting sequence)
Later in the science lab, three school nurses
Watched as we packed gauze strips into gouged rubber molds
Tightened a tourniquet on our own arms
Learned how to place a chest seal
(Vented on the front entry, plain on exit wound on the back)
We were assured that the techniques
Were tested and approved by The Committee
on Tactical Combat Casualty Care
Tactical.
Combat.
Casualty.
Care.
(Just for the record, this BRAT
Briefly considered a career in the armed forces
Before being dissuaded
By her military father and brother)
Maybe I didn't escape the draft after all
At what point do I go AWOL?
Heaven help us all. We never expected to be living in a combat zone in our schools. I saw an article yesterday about children being traumatized by active shooter drills. How much more so for those adults who endured this training you captured ...I am traumatized myself by just reading your poem. The connection to the military career you thought you wanted really brings it all home in the most haunting way. We must trust that we are where we need to be, doing - each day, in each situation - what we need to do. Not AWOL, my friend. Present and on active duty. Providing a service of love, above all. These words and images stick with me, mindfully, heartfully. They will for days to come.
ReplyDeleteI'm not ready to leave...yet. (Start talking armed teachers, then yes, I'm outta here.) Discussions with fellow teachers brought up the question of funding...is there as much going towards finding solutions and preventing this issue as there is towards paying for trauma kits in every classroom? I would fervently hope so.
DeleteOh. My. Goodness. "The Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care" ? We have lost our minds and our souls.
ReplyDeleteThis is disturbing and sad.
Thank you for this, though!
Sad was definitely the feeling yesterday. I felt like I was in a Twilight Zone episode...
DeleteThis brought tears to my eyes. Dear god help us all.
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely a sobering training. Several of our teachers had to look away from the slides.
DeleteI’m in shock after reading that last part:
ReplyDeletethe back)
We were assured that the techniques
Were tested and approved by The Committee
on Tactical Combat Casualty Care
Tactical.
Combat.
Casualty.
Care.
Poetry is the genre that best reveals what kids and teachers are going through these days. That final question, “When do I go AWOL,” has to be on the minds of every person thinking about teaching. Who chooses a profession w/ more danger than being a cop or I’m the military and w/ such low pay. 😑
I am a product of military dependent schooling; spent half of my K-12 there. We had bad weather drills, that was it. I don't even remember having bomb drills, even though my father informed us during one of our tours overseas that our base was a primary target. The fact that we're training with military- and EMT-supplied instruction is scary, indeed.
DeleteSo sad. So scary. Still sticking with it so far.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree... armed teachers would make me say goodbye.
Yes - when do we go awol? Such a sad state of events that we grin and bare. How can we change this?? #feeling helplesstoo
ReplyDeleteThis is not what we signed up for when we entered the Education field.
ReplyDelete