Emergency First Aid Training

Emergency first aid is the immediate care rendered to a person upon sustaining an injury or becoming seriously ill. It does not replace professional medical attention, but assists in stabilizing someone until skilled medical treatment becomes available. Typical scenarios where first aid can be used effectively are at the scene of an accident; in the workplace when someone experiences cardiac arrest; at a community event, where multiple people may suffer from heat exhaustion; or in the event of a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, where emergency responders are overburdened. Some professions require that employees gain certification in first aid, as a condition of employment, such as law enforcement officers, nursing home caregivers and flight cabin crew.

Learning

• While it is possible to learn first aid techniques through a book, online course or DVD, most people benefit from taking a course with certified instructors. This allows participants to gain practical experience and get feedback from an expert, as well as receive a certificate of completion and competence. Courses are, generally, inexpensive, or even free, and vary in content, but usually include first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Some courses now include the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

First Aid

• The ABC of first aid, is taught in most first aid classes. Airway, breathing and circulation. As well as performing CPR, participants will also learn how to deal with someone who is choking and could lose consciousness. Once a victim is stabilized, participants will also learn how to place him in the conventional recovery position. Dealing with injuries such as fractures, burns and cuts will also be covered, as will ensuring the first aider protects himself against contracting a contagious disease from the person he is treating.

CPR

• According to the American Heart Association (AHA), more than 785,000 Americans will experience a new heart attack in 2010, and more than 400,000 people that have had a heart attack, will have another. Knowing how to perform CPR could save someone's life. AHA's research shows that only 30 percent of those that experience a cardiac arrest, outside of a hospital, receive CPR, which could be the difference between life and death. CPR is a combination of chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. If someone has stopped breathing and is not circulating blood adequately, CPR can restore circulation of oxygen-rich blood to the brain. Without oxygen, permanent brain damage and even death can occur in as little as less than eight minutes.

AED

• Once used only by medical professionals, such as ambulance crews and hospital medical personnel, AED's have become more compact, portable, readily available and a part of the first aid kit in many homes. An AED is a device that checks the the heart's rhythm for any abnormalities, via pads attached to the victim's chest, and, if necessary, directs the user to deliver an electrical shock (defibrillation) to the heart of someone suffering from sudden cardiac arrest.

Good Samaritan

• Some people fear that by rendering first aid, they may lay themselves open to litigation, if the victim does not survive the incident. In some states, good samaritan laws exist to protect the innocent first aider from legal action. Statutes may include, requiring a person to call 9-1-1, if he witnesses an incident, and providing immunity from prosecution for providers of emergency first aid.