The Importance of First Aid/ Why First Aid is

Important?

When Katherines 90 year old granny suddenly started choking, her lips turning blue, her horrified
family helplessly watching, it was first aider Katherines training that made her jump into action.
After calling the emergency services, she proceeded calmly to hold and then slapped her granny
hard on the back several times. Out flew the half chewed chicken from her grannys mouth and
slowly she regained her breathing. Katherine called off the ambulance bringing relief to the family
and thus averted a catastrophe.

The above incident highlights the fragility of human life and the unforeseen arrival of accident
which renders one helpless. Had Katherines granny passed away that peaceful Halloween night if
it were not for Katherines critical life saving intervention to the incident? Quite possible. Are we
prepared to handle such incidents? Quite possibly not.

First Aid is the assistance given to any person that either helps him recover quickly, or prevent the
condition from worsening while awaiting emergency services to arrive. It can be performed by any
layman who is trained in basic levels of first aid. ABC of training i.e Airway, Breathing and
Circulation, a mnemonic used by emergency services professionals, focuses on rendering effective
services for less serious injuries. After ABC skills have been mastered, some organisations proceed
to teach 4B Skills (Breathing, Bleeding, Burns, and Bones). Performing chest compressions,
artificial resuscitation, essentially a part of CPR and considerations for cervical spine are considered
essential capabilities of a First Aider.

Red Cross first aid certification courses are OSHA compliant, and affordable. It has two types of
first aid training

Adult first Aid Information needed on performing first aid on teens and adults, simple to
do steps covering variety of scenarios makes one capable of rendering effective
interventions in critical life threatening incidents.
Child and Baby first Aid Specialized emergency care is needed for babies and children.
Hence ability to use soft hands while rendering fruitful services are developed through this
course.

First Aid kit, a handy tool contains tools, drugs, instruments, protective equipments that can
help a first aider in handling trauma injuries, ABC treatment scenarios and other unforeseen
incidents. The contents of a first Aid kit can be customized according to the skills, knowledge
of first aider and requirements of first aid scenarios. The kit serves as an extension of
emergency services and lack of kit can deteriorate a situation. Thus the knowledge and its
application using /first aid kit makes a first aider an important element of intervention in life
threatening incident.

Today, people work in wide number of environments that involves application of varying
degrees of physical efforts. Few workplaces are accident prone which increases the importance
of having few employees trained in Basic First Aid skills. One suffers personally and the costs
in monetary terms can be surprisingly high. It is estimated that roughly 140000 people in USA
suffer injuries in a year while 1 in 3 people suffer from nonfatal injuries. Ensuring the safety
and wellbeing of staff helps foster a healthy workplace environment. Workplace incidents have
steadily increased over time and hence it is essential for employees to be ready to face
unprecedented circumstances.

To passively await an accident to occur with just empirical knowledge gathered through ones
life experience is fleeing from taking responsibility. Most of us today think on these lines and
hence remain passive bystanders to harsh blows of unlikely incidents. The advantages of
being a First Aider are numerous.
Be the one to comfort and reassure. Provide a sense of security. Take leadership in
stressful situations and help calmly handle the situation to preserve life, prevent
escalation and promote safety.
Arrange for right kind of help. Leverage your skills, knowledge and experience from
handling life threatening situations to arrange for right kind of help. This will help you
provide right intervention to improve recovery time and also save on avoidable
expense on increasing costly healthcare services.
Save Lives! Lack of First Aid can kill. Life is priceless, and the one who is saved will be
eternally thankful to the person who saved him. To a first aider, saving someone life is
enriching experience for soul, one that a highly specialized doctor thrives on.

For Katherines family, Katherine is a hero. She gave life to person who was essentially in
last phases of mortal life. We can be a hero too. With the knowledge of a first Aider !