by Teresa Feil

Created on: June 02, 2008

Learning First Aid

Emergency First Aid is an essential thing for people to know. It is mandatory for Police and Fire Departments to know the mechanics of first response. If you have small children or are a caretaker for adults, First Aid should be a high priority for your own peace of mind.

Learning First Aid or First Response isn't just the responsibility of a select few. Many people live in rural areas, where it may take any ambulance sometime to arrive. Even in the big cities, an emergency vehicle isn't always respected and allowed to travel quickly. You have only minutes to react in certain situations. If you do not know CPR or how to handle a choking victim, that person's chance of survival is slim.

I have been certified in Emergency Medical Service for twenty years. I live in rural Kansas, where farming prevails. Farming accidents are very common especially during the harvest time. If more farm families knew the mechanics of emergency care, the rate of survival would increase. Farm accidents do present in a different manner than other emergencies. You will most likely have large machinery involved and you need to know how to handle this machinery before trying to help the person injured. Which brings me back to the family knowing first response aid. The farmer usually does his own work on the equipment and can dismantle it quickly. This can save precious time for EMS when they arrive.

Teachers and Day Care providers should know CPR and the basic first aid. If you have children or older adults in your care you will have accidents. Choking in these two groups seems to be the biggest issue. It is important to refresh your CPR and choking skills yearly. The basics are always the same but new standards are introduced periodically.

Young parents should be required to take a short course on infant CPR and choking before leaving the hospital with their new babies. For first time parents it would ease their minds in the middle of the night when that infant wakes them with a croupy cough or gags on formula. We have responded many times to the frightened Mommy when the baby chokes. If she had some knowledge as to how to handle the situation, she would be less likely to call for help. These situations will usually work themselves out, but Mommy is still upset.

The list of people that need to know First Aid is open ended. We all need to know. You never know when the person next to you in the grocery line or in church may collapse. You have no idea when a loved one may be injured or become ill. But if you have the knowledge and skills to cope with the issue at hand you will be able to give this person a better chance of survival. So I extend the invitation to you, to check your local Emergency Center and find out about classes for First Aid. It only takes a short time to learn the skills to save a life.

Learn more about this author, Teresa Feil.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.