When Training Becomes Reality: Chichester College Students Answer the Call During Operation Churchill  

Public Service students from Chichester College recently put their first aid knowledge to use, assisting a member of the public during this year’s ‘Operation Churchill’ Challenge.  

The level three students were taking part in the annual challenge when one of the students noticed a member of the public who was injured and bleeding heavily.  

This is when the students stepped in, using their first aid training to apply direct pressure to the wound, provided reassurance and comfort to the member of the public, as they stayed with them till the ambulance arrived.  

While this was happening, Zac Hughes, one of the students in the group, contacted emergency services and provided key information to the emergency medical dispatcher, including the person’s name, how they were feeling, and their medical history.  

They came across the patient as the students were returning from the main challenge of the day, a 13km trek to the top of the Trundle, a historic hill that overlooks Chichester and surrounding areas.  

Sponsored by local architecture group Noviun Architects, the training event puts students into groups and simulates some of the challenges that Public Service students will go on to face when they enter the world of work, from working in the police forces to enrolling in the army.  

On the way, students had to complete a series of checkpoint tasks, set to test their resilience and perseverance as they travelled in teams on the 13km run.  

This included a timed challenge across the college’s climbing wall, testing each and every team as they tried to get every member across, focusing on each student’s coordination and core strength.  

Students also had to navigate a blindfolded communication ‘minefield’ task, where they had to navigate as a team through a series of cones. This replicates the kind of communication required in low-visibility situations.  

One of the most challenging tasks involved students using ropes to carefully remove a metal keg as a team, without using their hands, which simulated the kind of situation involved in removing hazardous material.  

Helen Loftus, Principal of Chichester College, said:  
“I am incredibly proud of our Public Service students for the calm, professional and compassionate way they responded when faced with a real-life emergency.  

“Operation Churchill is designed to develop the resilience, teamwork and practical skills needed for careers in the public services, and this incident showed exactly how valuable that training can be.  

“Their actions made a genuine difference to someone in need and are a credit to both themselves and the college.”  

To learn more about the Public Services on offer at the college, click here.