Experience: I’m an 81-year-old crash‑test dummy

🌈 Abstract

The article is about a woman who has volunteered for the Casualties Union charity for over 40 years, playing the role of a pretend casualty in emergency service training exercises.

🙋 Q&A

[01] The Woman's Adventurous Spirit

1. What are some of the adventurous experiences the woman has had?

• Worked for a travel agent and was posted to Cape Town
• Signed up for a first-aid course and played the role of patient to let the instructor demonstrate bandaging techniques
• Volunteered for St John Ambulance and discovered they were involved in training for the emergency services, pretending to be casualties in mocked-up disasters
• Has had over 40 years of experience pretending to be shot, stabbed, run over, airlifted from a burning ship, and rescued from mangled vehicles

2. How does the woman describe her volunteer work?

• It's incredibly rewarding work
• The exercises are designed to be as real as possible without putting anyone in danger
• She's not officially called a real-life crash-test dummy, but it's a way to describe her work

[02] The Importance of Realistic Training

1. Why is it important for emergency services to train in near-realistic scenarios?

• If they practice using their skills on actors, rather than mannequins, it's easier for them when they're thrown into chaos for real
• The Casualties Union charity was founded to train the civil defense when they were pulling people from rubble during the Blitz

2. How do the volunteers help make the training scenarios more realistic?

• Some have medical backgrounds and have helped the woman understand how patients may look or act with different injuries
• The woman has learned how to create realistic-looking injuries with makeup

[03] The Woman's Dedication and Impact

1. How does the woman continue to contribute to the Casualties Union?

• She's a senior instructor now, passing her years of experience on to new recruits
• She plans to continue doing this work until she's at least 100 years old

2. What is an example of the woman's impact through her volunteer work?

• During a basic first-aid course, a young man she played a heart attack victim for was later able to save his grandfather's life using the skills he learned.