Part 14: First Aid

The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Red Cross (ARC) cofounded the National First Aid Science Advisory Board (Table) to review and evaluate the scientific literature on first aid. The goals of the National First Aid Science Advisory Board were to reduce morbidity and mortality due to emergency events and to analyze the scientific evidence that answers the following questions: View this table: Organizations Represented on the National First Aid Science Advisory Board This critical review of the scientific literature resulted in a Consensus on Science for First Aid With Treatment Recommendations, from which these guidelines are derived.1 The critical review and evaluation of the literature identified areas for future scientific research. From the perspective of the 21st century, the need for first aid training seems self-evident, but the history of organized first aid spans only 120 years. There is evidence, though, that Native Americans practiced first aid and taught it. For example, Sioux medicine men of the Bear Society were noted for treating battle injuries, fixing fractures, controlling bleeding, removing arrows, and using a sharp flint to cut around wounds and inflammations.2 Modern first aid evolved from military experience when surgeons taught soldiers how to splint and bandage battlefield wounds. Two British officers, Peter Shepherd and Francis Duncan, are said to have been the first to expand the concept to civilians and develop the first curriculum in first aid.3 Training in first aid began in …