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Angela arrived in the classroom with a few minutes to spare, and busied herself with opening the windows to let in a breeze, setting out the things she intended to teach about, and then sat in her desk, swiveling the chair back and forth idly while humming a tune she'd heard on the radio earlier.

She'd not met this young man before, when he was younger; she'd been hired after Chath had already received his shots. But from what she had read in his file, he seemed like he might be a handful.

I'll make my own judgement, though. And as long as he learns what I have to teach, a bit of personality is a good thing, she thought, smiling to herself.

Angela stood up as Chath entered. She smiled, then glanced up at the clock and shook her head, denying his lateness.

"Well, the clock says you're still on time... with about ten seconds left to go, and counting," she said. "And now that you know where I am, it should be easier to find me in the future, right?" she added, cheerfully.

"My name is Angela Medina-Rivera... but since that's a mouthful, you may call me simply Angela, or Mrs. Angela, if you'd rather," she introduced, then gestured to the room.

"Welcome to advanced first aid! You may pick any seat you like, as I like to walk around," she said, and gestured to the good-sized lab tables that filled a large portion of the room.

On one of the tables were the items Angela had laid out earlier: a first aid kit, a dummy torso, and some flash cards. The dummy was of the type that was usually used for CPR, but while she was contemplating a class on that, this particular class would just be using it as practice for treating various injuries. The flash cards outlined situations where multiple steps would be needed, but a dummy wouldn't be of any particular use.

"It's very nice to meet you, Chath," Angela said, and then stopped in front of the items on the table.

"Let's see... on today's agenda, we have a review of the information on the handout you should have received. How to treat some of the more common, but still important injuries, like burns, large cuts, and allergic reactions, and the side effect that some of these injuries can have, shock," she said, getting through the boring introductory part of the class.

"Did you have the handout completed?" she asked, glancing down at the sheet of paper Chath had been carrying with a smile.

Angela smiled and accepted the paper, an eyebrow raising slightly at the wrinkled nature of it.

She looked it over, nodding to herself as she answered his question.

"Some of the basic things, certainly, such as patching cuts, since they are much the same when it comes to applying pressure and keeping the injury clean. But things like wing injuries are something that should be dealt with by someone who is an expert, to avoid doing more harm. In that case, the best thing to do is simply to keep your dragon calm and still, so that any injury isn't aggravated while help is on the way."

She paused for a moment, and sat down across from him while she considered.

"The signs of dehydration in a dragon should be like those in a reptile, aside from the dragon being able to tell you when they are feeling bad. Sunken eyes, dry and wrinkled skin... if you can find a spot where the scales are small and flexible, take a fold of it in between your fingers," she said, and demonstrated on the back of her hand. She let it go and it snapped back into place immediately.

"If they are healthy, that is exactly what their skin should do. If they are dehydrated, it will stay raised up," she explained.

"As for things like shock, its very hard to tell when shock is setting in, in reptiles. You might not even know it until they go unconcious or something else serious like that. I would take that question to the dragon instructor, as well," she said.

"I'm sorry that I don't know more about caring for a dragon's hurts. Perhaps I should take a class," she said, laughing a bit at the idea of taking a class with the young kids, and how out of place she'd be.

Angela pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"I see... well, I will look into it, but the best advice I can give is that if you think something is wrong, find a tech, or bring it to a teacher's attention. If it's obvious something is wrong, like a burn, broken bone, or bleeding, then treat it as you would a wound on anyone else, and keep the injured area still," she said.

After looking at his bandaged limbs, she said, "I wouldn't attempt to set a dragon's bone, if I were you, or anyone else... they might be your dragon, but they are still large, fighting creatures. Even if they don't mean to, they can hurt you badly, as I see you've found out. And their muscles could be too strong to allow one to fully set the bone, as well.

"In that case, keep them still and calm. If they get too cold, or too warm, depending on the dragon, try to rectify that, as it could be shock setting in.

"Beyond that... I'm afraid I don't know how dragons respond to things like epi-pen or anti-histamines so allergic reactions are out of my area of knowledge. Internal hurts should always be dealt with by a professional doctor as fast as possible," she finished, nodding firmly.

The class was already taking an unexpected turn! She was doing her best, coming up with solutions for dragon care that she hadn't known would come up. She really would need to find Perilas and pick his brain, and add this subject into this class on a regular basis. Perhaps make it it's own class, or one they could teach jointly... but that was for later. Now it was time to teach this class!

"Not at all! That's what this class is for, after all. Answering your questions! If you didn't have any, that would be far more of a problem," she said, and chuckled, then quieted as Chath asked his next question.

"That's a good question," Angela said, smiling.

"There's a trick to remembering what to do, in what order," she continued, and ticked off points on her fingers as she spoke.

"Remember PRINCE: Protection, Rest, Ice, NSAIDs, Compression, Elevation. Protection means wearing a brace to keep the joint supported. Rest the ankle by using crutches or staying off it as much as possible. Use ice or cold packs on the ankle for the first one to three days, for about fifteen minutes every hour or until the swelling goes down. NSAIDs are things like Advil, that help reduce swelling and ease pain. Compression also helps reduce swelling, so you can use an ACE bandage in addition to some other form of brace. And elevation means keeping it slightly above the heart, so that it doesn't bruise as much," she said, taking on a slightly sing-song tone as she recited from memory, taking time in between each part so that it could be absorbed by her student.

When she finished, she looked to Chath, hoping she hadn't given too much information in one go.

"Did you get all of that? I can repeat it if you would like," she said. She'd seen him get out his notebook earlier. She wasn't a slave driver professor, that made you get it all in one go in a notebook, or use a voice recorder.

"E is for elevation. Keep the sprain above the heart, if possible, or as high as is comfortable for the patient, if not," she explained again, patiently, peering slightly to see as he wrote.

"This helps keep down bruising by reducing bloodflow," she added. She had begun to shift around slightly, and so she stood up to walk to one of the corners of the table, near the dummy.

"Any other specific questions?" she asked, smiling.

Angela shook her head, and said, "I haven't yet made a curriculum for that, but I am considering adding one in the future," she said.

She took a moment to mentally outline answers for the rest of his questions, then nodded, and said, "This will take a bit of explaining, so get your pencil ready, young man." She smiled.

"We'll start with heat burns. There are three degrees in heat burns, with first being the least serious, and third being the most serious. There are distinct visual differences in the three, and that will tell you which ones to treat and which ones not to.

"For heat burns, the first thing to look at is how large the burn is, regardless of severity. If it's larger than 2 or three inches in diameter, or is on the hands, feet, face, or genitals, it should be treated immediately by a doctor," she said, and nodded for emphasis.

"First degree burns are red, painful areas on the skin, and they may swell slightly. If you press them gently, the skin will turn white, then back to red. The skin on the burn may fall off after a couple days, usually once the new skin underneath has formed, but take about a week to heal"

"Second degree burns are also red, but are more painful and have blisters. They will swell more, and it may have a splotchy appearance. These usually heal in a couple weeks."

"Third degree burns will have no sensation at all, as the burn has reached and damaged the nerves. It will also be dead white, in humans, but will look very unnatural in any creature. There could be charring on the skin as well. These take a very long time to heal, and can leave bad scars behind," she said, looking grave.

She paused. "I told you there was a lot to cover with burns," she said, and waited for him to catch up before continuing.

"For a minor, first degree burn, flush the burn area with cool water for a few minutes, or put a cool cloth on it, or ice with a towel wrapped around it. Then you can treat it with aloe vera, and take a pain killer, if you choose."

"For a second degree burn, soak it in cool water for about fifteen minutes to start, and then put a cool cloth on it daily for a few minutes until it's mostly healed. Use aloe vera on it, and put a dry gauze on it to protect it. If the patient hasn't gotten a tetanus shot within the last ten years, they'll need to get one of those, as well"

"For a third degree burn, do not try to treat it yourself. Go straight to a doctor. Also, do not remove any clothing or fabric that is stuck to the burn. Don't soak it in water or apply any ointments. You can, however, put some gauze or a clean cloth on it lightly to protect it until treatment can be given," she said, and nodded.

"Before I continue, did you get all of that? Any questions?" she asked.

She was liking this course! It was a good test of her knowledge as well as imparting knowledge on the young. She didn't have much occasion for practicing, after all.