World First Aid Day, 2022, September 10

 

World First Aid Day is an event of the Global First Aid Reference Centre. The opportunity is to highlight and promote first aid awareness through campaigns mobilizing the volunteers and the general public.

 

Each year, Global First Aid Reference Centre provides concepts to National Societies to optimize and impact through their communication to encourage awareness of first aid.

 

The theme of 2022's World First Day is "Lifelong First Aid," to promote the importance of having lifelong learning of first aid irrespective of skills, age, or knowledge. It helps to create healthier and safer communities. Everyone from every community should have a quality education on first aid. The commitment to learning lifelong first aid can make everyone more resilient and prepare for anything coming their way.

First aid history

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies or IFRC inaugurated World First Aid Day in 2000. Still, the history dates back to 1859 when Henry Dunant, a Switzerland businessman, saw the massacre of the Solferino battle.

 

Dunant's horrified memory led him to write "Memoirs of Solferino." The book conveyed his vision of having an independent organization to provide immediate medical care for wounded soldiers. The idea encouraged the formation of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross), and Dunant became the co-founder. His findings state that human suffering doesn't limit to war; it is universal, and first aid is crucial even for household and road accidents.

 

How to act during an emergency?

If someone is injured:

·   Ensure the injured person and you aren't in any danger; if not, make sure the situation is safe

·   Call for an emergency

·   Proceed with the basic first aid

When someone is unconscious and not breathing:

·   Call for an ambulance, immediately

·   Proceed with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) directly

 

If the person is unconscious and breathing

·   Check whether the person has no other injuries that might stop them from moving

·   Gently place them in a recovery position till the medical help arrives

·   Observe and monitor the injured to make sure they breathe normally

 

Things should be inside the first aid kit

The following first aid kit items are sufficient for a family of four, but you can modify them as your need and condition:

 

·   A first-aid manual

·   2 absorbent compress dressings

·   25 adhesive bandages (assorted sizes)

·   A roll of adhesive cloth tape (10 yards x 1 inch)

·   5 antibiotic ointment packs

·   5 antiseptic wipe sachets

·   2 packets of aspirin (81 mg each)

·   An emergency blanket

·   A CPR face mask with a one-way valve

·   A cold compress

·   2 latex-free gloves pair (large size)

·   2 hydrocortisone ointment packets

·   A gauze roller bandage (3-inch wide)

·   A bandage roller (4-inch wide)

·   5 sterile gauze pads (3x3 inch)

·   5 sterile gauze pads (4x4 inch)

·   A non-glass/non-mercury thermometer

·   2 triangle-shaped bandages

·   A tweezer

Conclusion

The IFRC's strategy is to scale up its first aid program by 2030 to prepare every society in every nation with a quality approach. World first aid day is a yearly opportunity to encourage people and promote the importance of first aid as an act of humanitarian empowerment. To know more about first aid, kindly follow this link.