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Sometimes first aid means checking an unresponsive patient’s airway, breathing and circulation. Sometimes it means recognizing the symptoms that could lead to self harm, or supporting someone through a panic attack.
“We always say if someone is hurt, we can help them,” says Diane Story, who has been a first aid educator at the Red Cross for almost 40 years, adding that this doesn’t always mean physically. “Sometimes they are hurt in a different way.”

When a health emergency happens to someone in your presence, it can be overwhelming on many levels. It can be quite shocking to witness someone choking, having a heart attack or diabetic emergency. Everyday emergencies can include broken bones, bleeding, burns, allergic reactions, and seizures to name a few. However, to help improve your ability to help in such an emergency, it helps to be prepared with first aid – this knowledge could help you save someone’s life!

Communications aid workers do a bunch of things, but their main purpose is to help make sure people have the information they need when disasters or emergencies hit. Recently, a group of future communications aid workers, myself included, got to attend a training session in Ottawa. 

Aiming to give youth important first aid and injury prevention skills, the Canadian Red Cross has updated its Youth program to give youth greater confidence in caring for themselves and others. Stay Safe! is a new course designed for youth aged 9 to 13 years, in order to provide skills and knowledge to increase their confidence in staying safe on their own.

In late November 2016, the Ecuadorian Red Cross, with support from the Magen David Adom (MDA), the Israeli National Red Cross Society, conducted mass-casualty incident (MCI) training in Ecuador. An MCI is a situation – natural or man-made – where emergency crews become overwhelmed by the number of casualties. Many Red Cross National Societies respond to MCIs in their home countries; these Societies then share their knowledge with other Societies to improve their response capabilities.

Last spring the Canadian Red Cross welcomed three communications delegates from other Red Cross societies. Degsew Amanu from Ethiopia Red Cross, Marial Mayom Riak from South Sudan Red Cross, and Carlos Romero from Honduras Red Cross, joined staff and volunteers from across Canada to participate in an Emergency Response Unit (ERU) training and learn valuable skills that they could take home with them.

Okay, so I am that person. The one who really can’t handle the gross stuff, the one who covers their eyes during movies until people tell me it’s okay to look again. So naturally the world of first aid is one that gets me a little nervous because it might be icky. And then I had a moment that I realized just how important first aid is.