I think that most people that have taken the time to find a site like ETS, and even more so those dedicated enough to want to discuss these topics view the topic of "First Aid" as something more than what it really is.

First Aid can be expanded to include anything and everything done to care for a patient prior to that patient reaching and receiving the definitive care for their medical emergency. Sometimes that definitive care is simply wound cleaning and bandaging and other times it is a trauma surgeon. By this definition, First Aid is only as simple or complicated as the situation presented. This definition is where I believe many members of this Forum focus is. Most, if not all, understand that they can never be prepared for every medical emergency but they want to be as prepared as they can be within reasonable preparation time and financial limits.

The definition of First Aid in the previous paragraph does not fit what the common definition of First Aid is today. This second definition of First Aid can be best summed up as the minimum amount of training to save savable lives. In essence, provide for the ABCs (airway, breathing and circulation). This is why many basic first aid courses are heavy in CPR and add bleeding control, basic shock management, a few other topics and that is about it. I also believe that this is the most appropriate way to teach basic first aid and I think that every adult should take a basic first aid course. I also think that a basic first aid course is inadequate from a survival/preparedness point of view if you every plan on leaving urbania.

Wilderness First Aid (WFA) would be a much better basic course. If you take a WFA course from an organization like NOLS or Wilderness Medical Associates (WMA) you will really be attending an entry level EMS course.



These courses will probably be all that most need with some added research on specific topics of interest. Those that are looking for more should look into the First Responder Level courses like MarkO mentioned. I would also recommend NOLS and WMA for their Wilderness First Responder courses. The reality is that First Responder curriculum covers almost all the most important parts of the Basic EMT curriculum. This varies from state to state of course, but if you aren’t going to work or volunteer as an EMS provider a first responder level class will be more than adequate.

One last thing about CPR, I have heard a lot of comments about the new simpler CPR (positive and negative). I have been watching AHA catch up to the CPR being done in various regions by both EMS and ED and AHA is taking baby steps… there are more changes coming. So much of what we did for cardiac arrest patients was based off of theory with little to no supporting science for so long. In the past 5-10 years that has changed… and the guidelines for CPR reflect that. Granted some of those studies have proven some of the theories. In other cases the science has proven that some of those concepts were not quite right or completely wrong all together. While the experts are arguing what most of this means, there has been one irrefutable concept that has come out of all of this: effective, continuous chest compressions with limited interruption works… it has even been proven to make AEDs more effective if used after a few minutes of effective compressions.