Air Ambulance NI have announced the release of their new educational resource made for primary school children called ‘Helimed Ed.’, short for ‘Helicopter Medical Education’.
In partnership with Calvert, the programme aims to raise awareness of the air ambulance amongst primary school children through a range of cross-curricular and ready-made activities.
Damien McAnespie, Fundraising Manager for Air Ambulance NI Charity said, “We are very excited to launch this educational resource and hope that it will inform and inspire children from Primary 1 to Primary 7 about their air ambulance. The activities throughout the resource will allow children to learn about the charity service via Literacy, Numeracy and World Around Us as well as create important discussions in the classroom with their teacher about how to stay safe and what they should do if they were ever to find themselves in an emergency.”
The activities within Helimed Ed. are all aligned to the NI Curriculum and have been created by an experienced primary school teacher. There are three programmes to cover Primary 1 to Primary 7 and each has a range of activities to choose from. Helimed Ed. is a FREE resource for schools to register for, with the charity requesting a fundraiser at some point throughout the year. Air Ambulance NI requires £2.5 million a year in donations or £6,850 a day to maintain and sustain the service and community support is crucial to ensure the team keep flying and saving lives, brains and limbs in the region. Every contribution plays a vital role in sustaining the air ambulance’s mission of saving lives, protecting brains, and preserving limbs across the region.
Calvert are the Managed Print Service Provider for 85% of schools and have come on board in partnership with the charity to help spread the word as well as funding print costs. Calvert is proud to be part of this partnership and encourages educators and schools to embrace Helimed Ed. as a valuable resource for promoting education, safety, and community support.
David Calvert, Managing Director of Calvert, said, “In 2022 I was hit by a car at speed while training on my bicycle and was fortunate to receive rapid specialist care that definitely saved my life. Air Ambulance NI provides doctor-led field hospital care to those who need it urgently across the region, both in Greater Belfast and further afield, and their specialist care can prevent brain injury, loss of limbs and death for those involved in accidents. For that reason we are delighted to be supporting this fundraising and education initiative across the schools and wider communities in Northern Ireland.”
Schools signing up will receive one physical copy of the programme as well as a download link. To register your school today for ‘Helimed Ed.’ or for any more information on the resource, please visit www.airambulanceni.org/helimeded/ or contact us on 028 9262 2677.