Wellllllllcome back gang!
I've been a bit lazy with writing anything actually decent the past two days because I've been struggling to manage my time while I've only got 10 real days left to see anyone. So far I've spent it crouched in my room like a little Gollum with a bunch of crap lying everywhere. Charming.
For starters - if ever over the next half-a-year you decide that you can't stop creeping me and want to stalk my whereabouts, check out:
This is how you'll know where I'll be at any given time. Just look up the Disney Wonder.
If you're especially keen you'd notice that were I not still in freezing Canada right now, I'd be soaking it up in balmy Hawaii. Dammit! I'll update this every week so you know what my life's gonna be like. Also so you can warn me in advance if we're HEADING INTO A HURRICANE. Dun dun dunn.
So - back to actual journaling about the process - I think I'm almost done. So after the interviews and such, and getting my information about the Disney Look, and Welcoming me to the Company - I still had quite a few things to physically get myself around Toronto to complete, and this I called:
THE GAUNTLET.
Comprised of three major hurtles that - failing one - would ultimately lead to my downfall in even considering being a candidate to work at Disney ever again. So these were essentially 3 Trials, 3 Chances to screw up, 3 Things to pay for. :S
Trial #1: First Aid
So I've been learning first-aid since I was 12. (I was an incredibly proactive youngster). And you'd think - you'd think that since acquiring my first First Aid Certificate at 15, and then working at Summer camp, Campus Orientation/Frosh Week, a Karate dojo, Children's Theatre School, 5 years as a Tour Leader with students around the country, being on the First Aid Committee at the country's biggest book seller, and the Kid's Section of the country's biggest amusement park - that I'd probably need to be trained in First Aid at some point and that they'd check my certification.
NOPE!
It's funny because each time, at every job/thing I did, they said they'd offer the training and make sure they renewed it. And none of this ever happened. Ever ever ever. And heck, if it was up to you - wouldn't you rather your company pay for your First Aid recertification? That's like a hundred bucks. That's like 2 hundred boxes of Kraft Dinner, or a new outfit, or barely a day at Disneyland.
So after years of not getting it renewed and updated - I actually had to go in and do it myself. I figured I'd go with the original company that trained me - St. John Ambulance- many moons ago in Mississauga. Oh god, they were even the ones who trained me back in primary/elementary school with their Babysitting course:
If you grew up in Canada and remotely liked the idea of babysitting/playing with kids, you'd remember this "FUN COURSE!". I should've known already that I'd doomed myself to enjoying taking care of the wee ones and talking with a gentle, firm voice as I yanked that bottle of corrosives out of their pudgy hands.
Anyway, back to the story:
I had to do First Aid, signed up for the earliest available course that wouldn't have me traveling way too far to a sketchy part of the city, that still had good lunchtime options, and so I could meet up with people afterwards. As you can see, I'm meticulous and very particular with my planning.
So that left me with going to their Head Office at Bloor & Sherbourne for training. And I must've lucked out because - I GOT A DISCOUNT! Now all comments aside about having a discounted First Aid certificate, I wasn't about to say no to spending $99 on something that would've set me back $160.
This was the course that we were required to complete, prior to getting hired by Disney:
SO I show up on the day of, with a bright can-do attitude about the 9 hours of torture I would endure over each of the next 2 days. They said very clearly not to be late, like, 100 times in their email so I figure 15 minutes early would be fine. I walk up to the front door of the building, meanwhile thinking what a strange name John Ambulance must be for a Saint.
This was the course that we were required to complete, prior to getting hired by Disney:
"
Standard First Aid with Basic Rescuer CPR (Level C) & AED
Total Cost - $159.00 SFA Level C Renewal
Standard First Aid and Basic Rescuer CPR are combined to create one
course for convenience. Annual retraining in CPR is recommended. A
recognized prerequisite for medical, dental, nursing, police, fire and
ambulance programs. Nationally recognized certificates, valid for three
years, are issued upon successful completion.Topics include Emergency
Scene Management, choking, severe bleeding, Wound care, Burns, Poisons
and much more. Infant/Child, Adult CPR and Automated External
Defibrillation will also be taught."
----------------
----------------
But alas! The door's locked. The buzzer code to the office doesn't work.
Apparently they share a building with like, 3 other international consulates (that's what I get for living in a capital city). Meanwhile, I start talking with the other people who have gathered around - all looking lost and confused, each person trying unsuccessfully to open the door and work the buzzer while there's clearly a crowd of 10-15 who'd each tried it themselves standing around watching them saying absolutely nothing. I think we all just wanted to amuse ourselves with a little schadenfreude while we were waiting out in that cold morning.
I'm sure no one was impressed after realising that everyone watching knew they'd try, and fail and say nothing. But when the next person came, it made up for it. But finally the actual course leaders showed up a minute late, and let everyone in.
Now for those of you who've never done this before, here's a rundown of what we had to do:
- We were given Standard First Aid handbooks that have been very recently updated with new protocol, that we're expected to be vigilant about keeping on us at all times - JUST IN CASE there's a sudden train accident on the subway. I think mine's somewhere in my closet.
- We were handed packages of triangular bandages, gauze wrappings, mouth protectors, the works - to practice with and to keep after we graduated the course
- We sat in a room of just less than 20 people - which was a pretty diverse bunch. Some were older people who just thought they should have it, some wanted to become nurses or youth workers, some were bright eyed camp counsellors, some worked at fast-food places that required at least one first-aid trained staff member. No other cruise candidates :(.
We also were paired up with our own ACTAR. Now if you've ever done lifeguarding or first aid before- you know exactly what one of these is. For the rest of you uninitiated, they look like something out of a sci-fi movie. Or a sex shop.
I decided to name mine either Freddie or Gregory, depending on what his injury was. It was on these that we mostly practiced our CPR - they even had wee baby ones to work with. The creepiest part? When you blew into the mouths, they moved.
Now nearly a decade ago, we didn't have this fancy newfangled spooky artificial ACTAR-lung contraption business. Oh god no, we just mimed into the mouth. But here- mouth guard in place - we breathed right into their frozen fellatio-face and sure enough, their chests would puff up and rise underneath us as our air entered into them.
The second day, we mostly did our practical things on each other - no breathing or anything, mostly miming - but we actually had to inspect and touch each other and learn how to apply bandages and deal with situations like the following:
Course Instructor: Alright, now everyone look carefully at your victim lying down in front of you.
*Everyone gives sheepish looks at each other. My girl victim looks back at me, clearly uncomfortable*
Instructor: Now how do they look? Tell me, how do they look right now?
Me: Uhh...alright I guess?
Instructor: Have a look all around them, look at their bodies. Anything irregular?
Me: Uhhh....not that I can tell?
Instructor: Now ask them how they're feeling.
Me: Um, how're ya feeling?
Girl: Pretty awkward, not gonna lie.
BUT after two days of this, and what seemed like an eternity of chest compressions and CPR, we all passed!
Yep, a discounted $99 worth of 3 years of me probably capable of saving your life. Maybe.
(Now mind you, all I had to do was scan this in and send it as an image file to Disney. Nothing could've prevented me from really just changing the name up there, except of course that horrifying guilt and panic when something horrible happens and I realise I'm not actually trained. Soooo in short, get certified!)
Also: I highly recommend St. John Ambulance - they were actually quite friendly and organised and I got a discount. Score. So here's a link if you want it:
http://www.sja.ca/Ontario/Training/Pages/TorontoSFA-Level-C.aspx
So with that out of the way, my next step was my medical exam.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to ask me any questions, comment away, you don't need to sign up!