First Aid Saves Lives 

ToonLogs by AnuReSai

How many times we have encountered these situations:

• Searching frantically for some medicine, bandage cloth, to attend to the one who has injured. 

• Travelling on the road, witness an accident see people are hurt and in pain, urge to do something to help them before the ambulance arrives, your training and knowledge of first aid comes handy to help. Open your first aid box and realize that you have not replenished the ingredients.

When you see someone in pain, your natural instinct is to help them, but the question is are you equipped to turn the emotion in to action?

The sounds of ambulance passing by evokes an emotion of worry of someone suffering. You may not realise that, the ambulance is where the patients are provided with the required assistance, to minimise the damage to the patient. When an unfortunate occurrence of heart attack happens, what is done to the patient in those precious few minutes would make a difference of life and death. When things are normal one tends to take life for granted, the wisdom gets reflected in how well one is prepared to tackle unexpected and emergencies.   
First Aid, yes, it is the aid one is provided first.  

World First Aid Day is being celebrated from 2000 onwards and is the initiative of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Unlike many International Days, World First Aid Day is observed not on a given date but on the second Saturday of September, every year. In 2020 it is September 12th. The observation of the day raises public awareness about the first aid, how it can save lives every day and during crises. It is also a campaign to promote the importance of getting trained. More than 100 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world organise events as part of the World First Aid Day. First Aid help started over 160 years back. It is the reaction to the suffering and agony of many, during the battle of Solferino (1859), that laid the foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Henry Dunant, a young Geneva businessman, is the person who witnessed the suffering and reacted. Few individuals can make a difference.  He authored a book titled “A Memory of Solferino” published in 1862, describing the experience of handling the crisis. 

First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to anyone who suffers from either severe or minor illness or injury and care being provided to prevent the condition from worsening.   

Preserve life
Prevent the escalation of the illness or injury
Promote recovery
Pain relief 
Protect the unconscious

First Aid

Effectively, first aid reduces deaths, injuries, and impact during disasters and day to day emergencies. Its primary goal is to protect life and keep the condition from worsening and take measures until professional help arrives.  

The International Federation of Red Cross believes that first aid should be accessible to all, including the most vulnerable. It should also be an integral part of a more comprehensive developmental approach. In the times of COVID pandemic, the measures one takes before things lead to becoming COVID positive is helping many young and elderly to cope up with the challenge of tackling COVID.  

There is a need to continue to bring awareness about the need for first aid, more importantly training the people to provide first aid when the need arises. In olden times, the elderly in the house used to step in when someone in the family falls sick. The tacit knowledge the elderly possessed is getting lost with the passing of time.  Every household should have one who has trained in providing First Aid, in the workplaces, the First Aid boxes should not remain only adhering to the mandatory requirements. 

Observe the “World First Aid Day”, appreciate those who are giving their time and efforts in providing First Aid.  

Toons: Reema Jaiswal and Anusha
Logs: Sai Baba