Red Cross Nursing

The other name for First Aid, recognized across the world, is none other than the American Red Cross Society. They are setting the standards for first aid and care in the case of emergency, and any certificate from the Red Cross is considered as Gold Standard Certificate.

The Red Cross has outlets or branches, whatever may be term you want to associate, all over the world. In case of calamities such as flash floods, earth quakes, forest fires of large proportion or even landslides or any other devastation involving life of people, then the first person to be on the spot rendering assistance would be none other than a member of the Red Cross.

In an effort to spread the need for as well as importance of first aid, the Red Cross has been conducting a number of courses and training camps to aspiring individuals who care for themselves and also for the fellow citizens.

Red Cross has devised many courses aimed for individuals, for people working in specific occupations and also for the communities at large.

They will provide the basics of first aid training and also provide certificates for persons who have successfully completed the basic first aid training course. These certificates would normally be valid for 1 year or 2 years and is subject to renewal after upgrading as well as updating your knowledge.

The various types of first aid courses offered by Red Cross include the following:

• First aid training course for schools
• First aid training course for communities
• First aid training course in CPR
• Training in CPR with AED or Automatic External Defibrillator
• Adult CPR training
• Child and infant CPR training
• Training for babysitters
• First Aid training in sports and safety in sports

More details can be obtained from the local office of the Red Cross in your locality. You can choose the type of training you need the most apart from the basic first aid training certification course, and specialize in that field.

First Aid, as the name suggests, is the immediate help and assistance provided to a person who suddenly experiences some health-related problems and needs immediate attention. It might be an accident while walking on the road, sudden loss of breath due to heart attack or even bruises on falling from a moving vehicle. Whatever may be the situation, immediate attention needs to be given to prevent the condition from deteriorating further and the person should be escorted to the nearest hospital at the earliest possible time.

To provide first aid, you need not be a doctor or any person associated with the health care industry. You need not have to be a literate, for that matter. All you need to have is the passion and the urge to help the suffering person. If you have that compassionate heart, the first thing you will do is to take up a first aid training course in your locality and get certification for first aid training.

As a certified first aid provider, you need to bear in mind some essential things.

Your responsibility as a first aid provider begins as soon as you see a person suffering in an emergency situation. Your work will come to an end as soon as medical aid in the form of ambulance comes to the spot to take care of the patient. You must be very clearly aware of this basic responsibility.

As a first aid provider, you have been provided the training to just ensure the safety of the person and arrest further deterioration in his or her condition. Thus, you should restrict your scope of work only to that extent and strive to call for assistance at the earliest possible time.

Before starting your work on the affected patient, you should protect yourself adequately. Always have in your pocket or kit, a set of disposable hand gloves. You should wear these hand gloves before interacting with the patient, as otherwise, you might land in trouble getting in contact with blood, urine or other foreign materials.

You should know when to stop first aid treatment and leave the rest to the medical professionals. You should not take too much time on first aid and waste precious seconds or minutes in first aid.