The Necessity of First Aid Training

What is first aid?
Usually first aid is used to treat small injuries; very rarely it is a matter of life and death. First aid can be used anywhere, when there is an injury, be it at home, school, workplace and in public places. Basically, first aid is the prompt provision of essential emergency care to injured or sick persons. Sometimes first aid care is all that is required for people who have sustained minor injuries and illness and no further medical assistance is needed. In serious situations, the prompt first aid attendance to anyone who is injured before an ambulance can get to the scene makes the difference between life and death, or a full or partial recovery.

The Purpose of First Aid:
- Save life
- Prevent further injuries or harm
- Prevent injuries from becoming worse
- Provide relief from pain and
- To reassure the injured person

For example, some of the things that you will learn are:
1. How to stop the tongue from blocking the airway when someone is having a seizure.
2. No matter what first aid training you get, you will be taught the ABC's of first aid. These are airway, breathing and circulation. This means that during emergency situations, you will first have to focus on the airways to make sure that they are not blocked (for example, choking on food can block the airways). Then you have to ensure that the person is breathing correctly. Then for people whose hearts have stopped, you will be taught how to create an artificial circulation in the body.

First aid training is a very useful skill to have, even if you are not in a health service profession. You never know when you will need the skills to be able to help someone important to you. There are many organizations that provide first aid training. However, to ensure that you get training from a legitimate organization, you should make sure that they are licensed to provide you with the training.

There are different courses which you can choose from when you want to get some first aid training. These courses are based on different levels according to difficulty. Level 1 training includes many emergency medical modules. The course mostly contains theoretical modules, as well as the practical skills that are needed to apply first aid. There are usually three courses in total. A lot of first aid training schools offer students the option of taking a single course that is a combination of material from the three different levels.

The material from these courses will include learner manuals, simulated situations, audio-visual aids, and practical activities. The most important thing that you will learn in any first aid course is the ability to assist injured people with emergency life support in any situation.

Some of the things that you will learn are:
- Getting in touch with emergency service personnel
- CPR
- How to help someone when they are choking
- Safety
- Treating fractures and burns
- How to stop bleeding

For some professionals, it is very important to have first aid training, and these include the teachers and police personnel. But, some people undertake first aid training in order to progress further in the field, with a view to enter a particular profession, such as ambulance assisting. Also, if you have a baby sitter taking care of your children all day, it is recommended that you pay for them to receive first aid training. You want them to be able to react and respond appropriately in emergency situations, where one of your children could be injured. First aid training is an invaluable training to undertake. And, it is not very expensive.