Behind the whiteboard #1 | This might be a dumb question

Every week I'm going to write something real from the classroom. Not just tips, not just press releases - just honest stories from behind the whiteboard.

This week, we're starting with why you should never be afraid to say the wrong thing in class. There are no dumb questions. You probably aren't asking something we haven't been asked before.... come, ask, find out, be curious...it's okay of you mess up...Spoiler: nobody says worse things than me.

"Put your kids under your cars". That's what I said. Out loud. To a room full of adults who had paid money to be there in my first aid class. What I meant was: pop your child manikins under your chairs. What came out was something that probably should have been reported to Oranga Tamariki.

And then there was the jellybean incident. A whole sentence about treating jellybean stings instead of jellyFISH stings. Delivered with complete confidence.

And, we won't even talk about what I said I could do to a man on a blanket. Believe me, it was meant to be first aid related, infact, relating to moving a patient safely, but it certainly did not come out that way.

I've been teaching first aid for 25 plus years. I still get my words spectacularly wrong.

I tell you this because I know some of you almost didn't come. You were worried you'd freeze, or say something daft, or not know the answer.

Nobody in that room will ever out-fumble me. I promise you that.

Come anyway. Say the wrong thing. We'll laugh together and you'll still leave knowing how to save a life.