Red Cross Nursing

It is next to impossible to predict what will happen the next moment in the ordinary course of a person’s life. The situation becomes grim, for example, if either we contract a sudden problem such as a cardiac attack, unfortunately away from the vicinity of any hospital, or we see other person suffering from such an unforeseen event.

It is precisely in these circumstances that the importance of first aid and more specifically emergency first aid can come to a person’s rescue. Things can get out of control in a matter of seconds or minutes and any delay in such a situation might cost a life, which, once lost, cannot be retrieved back.

First aid in general, and emergency first aid, in particular, refers to those trivial but essential activities that need to be done for a person suffering from a health problem, such as sudden stroke attack, before he or she can be taken to the nearest hospital for regular treatment.

A number of voluntary health organizations, apart from hospitals and over health institutions, teach emergency first aid courses on a regular basis to teach and educate the people about the importance of this service, that, if properly utilized, can result in saving millions of lives. You might have heard many instances where the patient breathed his or her last before being taken to the hospital. If that patient were treated with emergency first aid, the probability of saving his or her life would have been more.

Burns, heart attack, stroke, accident, outbreak of violence or some bomb blast may be some of the incidents that require emergency first aid.

The principles of first aid or emergency first aid is following the three P’s in that order – preserving the life of the person; preventing further deterioration in the health of the patient; and paving way for further recovery of the patient.

An ideal example of emergency first aid is CPR or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which can be administered to a person whose breathing or heartbeat has stopped following a heart attack.

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.

The first thing that comes to mind when you hear about first aid training course is none other than the Red Cross Society. Why is it preferred the most when there are others also providing first aid training?

The local fire service departments, voluntary health organizations, community centers and even major hospitals do provide first aid training courses regularly to the individuals, the community as well as specialized groups such as drivers, workers, etc.,

What makes Red Cross stand apart in providing first aid and why the certificate awarded by the Red Cross is treated as Gold Certificate?

Four things make Red Cross extra-special than other organizations in providing quality first aid training course to the interested people. They are:

• adaptability
• accessibility
• interactive teaching techniques, and
• more options for training

The teaching and training methods of Red Cross are standardized according to international norms. The quality of teaching will be of the highest order and with quality comes the reliability and confidence. Another important aspect of the course material is that it is constantly updated, tested and reviewed under the supervision of qualified doctors. They, in fact, set the benchmarks and standards for first aid treatment across the world.

Red Cross has branches or associates across the world and can be reached easily. They will be conducting training courses on periodical basis and the time for you to wait for joining a training course is relatively less.

The techniques and materials that they provide during training process are very informative and interesting and provide interactive practical training with special dummy pieces of essential first aid kits. So, not only will a person learn about the first aid kits, but also can visualize and have a feel of these kits, that makes the learning process much interesting and educative than courses offered by other institutions.

Last, but not the least, the options for training in Red Cross are many. Either you can attend the classes as an individual at their office, or as a group of students, workers, or any specialized group. They will even come to your place to impart training, with no additional cost, if you need such training. They are very flexible and their certification has gold value. Then, it is obvious they will be the best in the business today and for ever.