An Interview With Medi-CalAiders
Describe the company
My mini-company is called Medi-CalAiders. Medi-CalAiders is a first aid and mental health calendar designed to help save someone’s life in an event of an emergency. I am a sole trader. I am a member of the Irish Red Cross for nearly four years and have a great interest in learning first aid. After conducting my market research, I found that an alarming amount of people who do not know many basic first aid skills and I wanted to change this, by creating a product that can help or “aid” the user to be more competent when dealing with a medical situation or incident. My first aid and mental health calendar contains a number of procedures on CPR, choking, burns and scalds, bleeding, fainting and strains and sprains as well as some information on these first aid topics. I have included photos of how to treat a casualty. There is a section of items that should be included in a first aid kit. I decided to include mental health tips into my calendar because mental health is such an important topic in today’s society. There are a list of organisations to contact if the person is feeling down or in need of advice.
How are you unique?
Medi-CalAiders is a very unique and innovative product. The USP of Medi-CalAiders is that the calendar contains very important information that could possibly help save someone’s life in an event of an emergency. The calendar is sold with a box of plasters to encourage people to start to build their own first aid kit if they don’t already have one. There is no similar product of this sort available on the market.
Where did you get the idea from?
I got this idea as I noted my Business teacher mentioning a calendar as an idea to the class for a mini-company, and so I decided to add my own twist to the calendar by including mental health tips and first aid procedures.
Where are you based?
Medi-CalAiders is based in Prosperous, Naas, County Kildare.
When was the company launched?
The company began selling in December of 2016. I came up with the idea in October of 2016 as part of my TY Business module to create a mini-company.
Who are your target market?
Medi-CalAiders’ target market is adults and anyone who is interested in learning first aid.
Tell us about yourself
My name is Sarah O’Rourke and I am 16 years old. I love learning about first aid and helping people. I am a member of the Irish Red Cross and occasionally go on duties with them to events that need to be supervised. I am a TY student from St Farnan’s Post Primary School in Prosperous. I enjoy Business in school. I loved being an entrepreneur and I got to experience the way in how a business runs.
What are the long term plans for your company?
My long term plan is to hopefully continue selling in the future. I hope to sell my product to stationary shops all over Ireland. I hope to have a first aid and mental health calendar in every shop and public building nationwide as I believe my calendar is necessary to have in all places and is very useful in an event of an emergency.
How do you people get in contact with you?
Medi-CalAiders is active on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Medi-CalAiders also has its own email address: medicalaiders@gmail.com.