Cuts, scrapes and bashes that bleed. Every child can at times emerge from a war zone of rough play, fall off their bikes or get injured on the playground. And there is not always a parent, nurse or minder to apply basic wound care.

Elastoplast recently launched a campaign leveraging well known sports personalities like Ox Nche and Eben Etzebeth to take basic wound care education to the classroom. The players substituted as teachers to share with young minds the importance of taking care of strains and injuries, particularly those that are common playground staples. A social media campaign to reinforce the message of these classroom stories was also launched. 

Medicare24’s Stephen Richards said that sharing knowledge with younger learners is important. Sanitised hands before touching a wound, whether a scrape or a cut, Richards said, is important. “You do not want to add to potential infection while trying to tend to your ouch,” he said. “The quicker you clean and cover a wound with a plaster, the faster it will heal and prevent any infections,” he said. “If there is bleeding, applying pressure on the wound with clean hands will slow down the flow,” he further advised. 

Then, Stephens said, cover the wound with a plaster. “The quicker it is cleaned and then covered the faster the wound will heal and the more it will be protected from additional infection. Immediate care and covering of a cut can prevent future scarring, too. If you are tending to a friend’s wound, wash your hands thoroughly after helping them, Stephens added.

“The campaign leveraging sporting personalities like Nche and Etzebeth, that children do not only identify with as heroes, but who also endure cuts and bruises on the playing field was a key consideration to educate youngsters,” said Nokuthula Khumalo of Elastoplast. “Education is more than textbooks, it’s a whole approach to learning and sharing the basics of first aid and wound care with children, a necessity,” she noted. 

The campaign, available on social media, has also resonated with parents who have used the posts as tools to affirm principles of first aid wound care to their offspring. “The positive response that the campaign, on the ground and digitally, has received to date is very encouraging,” Khumalo said. 

Richards said that the material proved highly useful and he has recommended it to several of his clients as a means to reinforce wellness messages to children.