Once upon a time I thought I really wanted to be a nurse. I went through all the right courses to get accepted into the school of nursing, I also did all the pre-testing and medicals to get in but realized that the sight of blood and people in pain was not a great choice for me.
During my first few weeks working at the Battlefords Boys and Girls Club I saw more scraped knees, slivers in fingers and bruises then I ever had before. One day there was quite a boo-boo that came into the office.
It was during the after school program late in the spring. Everything was going along fine when a couple of boys about 15 years old came into the club house looking for help. One of them was bleeding, rapidly all over the floor and walls.
The story went that they tried to go into their house and the doors were locked. Both parents were working and neither of the boys had a key. They decided to push open an unlocked window and get in that way. All was good, they wiggled the window enough for the first boy to get his arms in when suddenly the window crashed down and sliced his arm deeply. The boys began to panic; the amount of blood was like nothing they had seen before.
Still not having access to the home they had to go somewhere, and they decided someone at the Boys and Girls Club would know what to do. They began to walk the four or so blocks to the club. They were a little panicked, so it did not occur to them that the hospital was about the same distance.
The blood had soaked through all his clothes and was dripping everywhere, and according to the second boy the first had passed out once already on the way to the club.
The workers here are young, but dedicated. When the boys walked in they recognized them as a member's older brothers. One staff member administered first aid while the other looked up parent contact information on our computer.
All of this happened in a matter of a minute or two and we quickly reached a parent, got permission to bring them to the hospital and have a parent meet us there. My staff member drove them to the hospital, had them waiting in the emergency room and being treated before the parent managed to get there.
By the end of the day, the boy received 21 stitches and a huge bandage. When he was asked why he went to the Boys and Girls Club his answer was, "there is always someone there to help you out" and that rang true.
Imagine the feeling of being a symbol and place of safety for all youth in our community. I guess for many kids we are definitely a good place to be
