World First Aid Day Serves as a Reminder to Take a First Aid Course

On Saturday we celebrate World First Aid Day. Instituted by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, it is dedicated to raise public awareness of how first aid can save lives in everyday and crisis situations. This day serves as a good reminder for parents to sign up for a First Aid course. First Aid courses typically take between 2 to 6 hours – a one day investment that could save children’s lives. 

Do it for your kids. The leading causes of childhood injuries in the home are choking, suffocation, drowning, submersion, falls, fires and burns, guns and poisoning. Do you know how to handle each of these situations and could you do so calmly and confidently? We always think that these situations can’t happen to us, but in the United States, 2,200 children die each year from an injury in the home. And 3.5 million kids go to the emergency department for the kinds of injuries that commonly happen in homes.

 Training that can save lives. First Aid courses teach parents the rescue protocols so they know exactly what to do in most health emergencies. They learn how to remain calm in emergency situations and some simple acronyms to help them recall the steps they need to take when a crisis arises. First Aid training will help make parents confident and comfortable and therefore more effective and in control when they need to be. After all, it’s the indecisiveness of bystanders that wastes precious time and can seriously endanger the victim’s life and drastically reduce their chances of survival. Especially in cases like choking or drowning, survival depends on rescuing the child quickly and restarting the breathing process. Seconds count in preventing death or brain damage.

Time to re-stock your first aid kit. Being properly-trained and having the right first aid equipment will help ensure better safety for everyone. Here are a list of basic items you need to have in your First Aid kit:

•  Gauze pads (dressings) in small and large squares to place over wounds
• Roller bandages to hold dressings in place 
• Adhesive tape
• Adhesive bandages in assorted sizes
• Disinfectants like Dettol or Savlon
• Scissors
• Tweezers
• Safety pins
• Antiseptic wipes or soap
• Thermometer
• Barrier devices, such as a pocket mask or face shield
• Medicine and painkillers such as ibuprofen, paracetamol (or infant paracetamol for children), aspirin (not to be given to children under 16)
• skin rash cream
• Cough medicine
• Antihistamine tablets

Accidents will always happen. Don’t be the person who, when faced with a crisis, is overcome by fear and anxiety and freezes. In honor of World First Aid Day, spend a few hours to learn the skills that could save the life of a loved one. Get First Aid trained.