This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 |
This definitely needs to be reviewed. I'm training as a certified disaster service worker, under FEMA-approved training, but a review/rewrite by a real MD or EMT would be better. Ray Van De Walker
I am an EMT-B (VA) and have begun a rewrite. What was there wasn't bad at all, but needed to be fleshed out. The only thing I think was actually wrong was that first aid doesn't refer to what EMTs do. In some sense, this is true but EMTs generally use the term, probably because if we don't do first aid, and we're not allowed to practice medicine, then what do we do? Anyway, I've always used first aid to refer to anything done before MDs get involved, which can be anything from a band-aid to an emergency tracheotomy. Tokerboy 12:58 Nov 13, 2002 (UTC)
Comment: user:clarka I have hacked at this now and again. but I don't put anything in that I'm not 100% sure of. See the EMT article for what EMTs do. First aid is what laypersons do. (someone write an article on CERT before I do, please!) I didn't want to overwhelm novices (particularly the poor guy doing first aid because Google pulled up the wiki article because someone is hurt _right now_, which is one reason for emphasizing Call for Help and the very carefully written Call for Help article) . . . but I wanted to link to more comprehensive material elsewhere as well. Emergency medicine is what EMTs and paramedics do. You are acting under the direction of an MD (either by licensure for EMTs or by direct supervision for paramedics) and you _ARE_ a medical professional. An emergency needle cricothorocotomy is NOT first aid, and I certainly do not want to give instructions for an emergency tracheotomy in wikipedia because I am NOT an MD myself. As you are licensed you are held to a higher standard of care, Good Sam flies out the window, and you should have malpractice insurance. Thanks for continuing to stab at it, but please try to keep it organized! :)
If the patient is conscious, it is important to ask for permission before proceeding. Touching another person under any circumstances without that person's permission is considered assault in most jurisdictions.
5 years ago I followed a first aid training course in Belgium. I don't remember anything said about consent (but I'm not sure). Is this a US thing? Care should be taken with legal matters as they may vary widely from country to country. D.D. 10:39 Jan 8, 2003 (UTC)
Comment: clarka. Agreed but I think consent is required internationally as well. It is certainly better for the patient and good form, if not legally required.
Something else: in Belgium I AM allowed to touch persons without their consent in some special circumstances. For example to perform a so-called "civil arrest" (= immobilize a criminal until the police arrives -- I'm not sure about the English translation). D.D. 10:43 Jan 8, 2003 (UTC)
clarka: this has NOTHING to do with first aid. It is citizen's arrest or to put it accurately, a private person arrest. See security guard Thanks though.
I'd like to take issue with the section on "ABC". First of all, the acronym should be used in the plural ("ABC's"), with the s representing severe bleeding. Second, to the best of my knowledge, the ABC's thing is just a CPR guideline, whereas the actual list of immediate emergencies is as follows: stopped breathing, no circulation, severe bleeding, internal poisoning. I was taught this list under the name of "hurry cases." It eliminates the "airway" portion of "ABC's", which is redundant with "breathing" except in the context of CPR.
Furthermore, the statement that severe bleeding should be checked for by patting down the body is absolutely ridiculous. Severe bleeding means copious bleeding - either the pool of blood that we've all seen in movies, or (in the case of a punctured artery) spurts of blood.
I'm going to change that section to talk strictly about CPR, and add a new section on the four hurry cases. - Smack 18:46, 10 Aug 2003 (UTC)
I've removed these two links:
They were added by an anonymous user (68.7.15.227), removed by me, then added by the user again. As far as I can tell they are links to commercial sites and as the user has contributed only those links to wikipedia, I think they are just spam. If the user wishes to add them to the page again could they please explain here their justification for doing so? Tjwood 17:40, 10 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Triage should be treated like a dick, as it is a crucial step. -- Fighter 18:49, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
User:Esseye has proposed a merge of WFA into the First Aid article. I personally disagree; the two have different certifications and skill sets, both for general first aid users as well as skilled EMTs and other practicioners. The lack of equipment, additional environmental hazards (e.g. the high probability of hypothermia in a cold weather incident), and difficulties of evacuation/rescue make the two different topics entirely, although not unrelated. (As an example, in the WFA course I took, we responded to a scenario with eight trained first aiders, taking two to three hours of constant work. The incident was a single person with a broken leg (Closed fracture of the right fibula), which is barely even an emergency in the city.) Do not merge. ByeByeBaby 05:06, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
From the Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not page:
I think this page is in pretty clear violation of that policy. Plus, the first aid advice is for a variety of different things that do not belong on this page; stuff should instead just link to the "bites and stings" page or whatever, and put the detail there. Otherwise you have problems with redundant material.
The part of the page on what first aid and wilderness first aid is is fine. It's the "specific conditions" section with detail about treatment of individual conditions that has a problem. It should be integrated into the bulleted "conditions that often need first aid" list with maybe a sentence after each item explaining what it is and linking to that page. There is no reason to duplicate the information here. Remember that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia.
Last, I have a concern about the quality of the medical advice being given. I think it's done in too cursory of a manner and is thus potentially dangerous. Some parts could be interpreted as advising untrained people to provide treatment that is far above their standard of care. Another example is the 'when not to give CPR' section, that is so vaguely worded that anyone could stop CPR any time by these guidelines. "When the patient is stiff and obviously dead" is wrong: no one is dead until warm and dead. Somebody following just this advice without other medical background could easily really hurt someone. This type of thing proves that wikipedia first aid page does not have enough space to be giving good medical advice. But it can link to an external page that does, like, oh, say the red cross or something. -- Delldot 14:06, 21 October 2005 (UTC)
-- Gadget850 21:13, 4 November 2005 (UTC)
The page seems to consist of guesswork and outdated information, D for example stands for "Disability" and not "Deadly bleeding", and once you start CPR you have to continue until paramedics arrive to take over, regardless of how long so if you start it you need to make sure you can follow through. and a person can only be prenounced dead by a layman if there's damage that can't be associated with life, like if the head is separated from the neck or all the internal organs are lying next to the body otherwise it's up to a doctor to make the call. This whole article needs a complete rewrite. 78.156.214.135 ( talk) 21:01, 16 June 2010 (UTC)
The scope of the first aider seems to have been over-estimated in some cases; and vastly under-estimated in others. I propose a major re-write of the article to reflect this. The list of conditions I think should really reflect the responsibilities of a normal first aider, and therefore shouldn't really have childbirth, toothache, cramps, or diving disorders. The section regarding antibiotic treatment for wounds is irrelevent as far as first aid goes; and heamorraghe & bleeding are the same thing so there's no need to list them twice.
The section on techniques needs to be added to; although I would strongly advise the removal of tourniquets - they are NOT a first aid measure, infact, siting a tourniquet is not even that common a procedure in the ED/ER due to its dangers.
The section on CPR is particularly worrying - "if the patient is stiff and is obviously dead". I presume this refers to rigor mortis - that's not something which a first aider is likely to see, and is certainly not something which they would immediately recognise. It should be removed. "after twenty minutes of CPR with no pulse or breathing" - again, not a recommendation I have ever taught or been made aware of (I am a first aid trainer/examiner with several large UK organisations) - we generally teach that CPR should be stopped if 1) The casualty regains signs of life 2) The rescuer becomes tired 3) The situation becomes dangerous 4) Professional Help arrives and tells you to stop.
The primary survey section is a little misleading regarding attempting CPR before calling the emergency services. The Resuscitation Council (UK) 2000 guidelines reccomend it ONLY in cases of trauma, and pre-hospital traumatic arrest is not that common (in the UK, at least, the vast majority of out of hospital cardiac arrests are medical, 2/3 alone are due to MI).
First Aiders do use the PRINCIPLES of secondary survey; but they aren't taught to follow such a strict procedure as is set out in the article. The secondary survey is only carried out by first aiders in VERY rare situations anyway, as by the time they've done a primary survey, phoned for an ambulance, and provided critical interventions (CPR, pressure on wounds, treatment for shock etc...), help will have arrived. There is no merit in a first aider carrying out a secondary survey as defined in the article in the vast majority of situations.
I'll be happy to do a re-write taking these things into consideration, if that's what people want? -- John24601 22:41, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
I'd also be happy to update this page. I'm a first-aid instructor in Canada, and we don't have EMTs here...perhaps a separate EMT page is better-suited for EMT stuff? I also would like to edit the "when to stop CPR" part, as it is in a wilderness first aid context, and is incorrect for general first aiders. For example, a first aider who stops after 20 minutes is definitely vulnerable to lawsuit, from a first aid perspective. JamieJones 16:12, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
I agree with above editors. Quite clearly, this article goes beyond the content it should contain. Instead, brief outlines of what is first aid and links to other articles would be most appropriate. Also, a very clear link to the First Aid wikibook at the top of the page would be most appropriate. On this talk page, we should also add a notice that this article is about the concept of first aid, and not the procedures of first aid, which may be found in the wikibook. Andrewjuren 22:06, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
I'm only a volunteer driver for a small, mostly volunteer ambulance corps in the States, but how about "subject" instead of patient or victim? Very generic and nicely vague. And, as basically a lay person, with just American Red Cross basic first aid and cpr, I agree with not printing how-to's. Nobody should be encouraged to think that just reading such material will prepare them properly to handle emergency situations. Volygirl ( talk) 00:34, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
I'd like to propose that we do not use the term "victim" in this article. According to wiktionary, a victim is an aggrieved or disadvantaged party in a crime or disaster. Often, in first aid, the patient is not a victim (because of self-inflicted injury or accident) and, as a rule, that word is not used in Canada to describe patients. This is generally because by being labelled a "victim", many patients will have an undesired emotional response and can become combatitive. I understand that it is commonly used in the United States (and still by police forces here). Can anyone comment on how this compares in other countries? Andrewjuren 21:49, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
I am an instructor for the red cross and have had numerous discussions with them about their symbol/emblem. This usage definitely is against our policies. I know you meant well, but the red cross is pretty strict on this. For more information, see "We often see the red cross emblem used as a decorative symbol on signs, in advertising or to indicate first aid stations. This may not seem like a problem, but it is wrong. Use of the emblem by commercial enterprises dilutes the impact of the symbol at home and abroad besides being against the law. No organization -- except the Canadian Red Cross and the medical corps of the armed forces during times of armed conflict -- may use the Red Cross emblem in Canada. This use is legislated by the Geneva Conventions Act, the Trade Marks Act and the Canadian Red Cross Society Act." Thanks! JamieJones talk 22:32, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
Just curious as to how Johnson & Johnson fits in, as their first aid kits have the red cross with a registered mark. [2] -- Gadget850 ( Ed) 19:17, 12 February 2006 (UTC)
"Thanks for your vigilance on the emblem use
issue. There is a recently updated section of the Red Cross website that deals with emblem abuse ( http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id+AD0-000340+ACY-tid+AD0-019) That may be helpful for you. The ICRC and IFRC web sites also have good emblem sections (www.icrc.org and www.ifrc.org respectively).
Basically no-one except the Red Cross or the Canadian Armed Forces can use the Red Cross emblem in Canada. There are some companies that we authorize to use it (such as program sponsors) but we control these cases carefully. This is generally the case in any country that is signatory to the Geneva Conventions.
The one exception to this rule in the United States is, interestingly, Johnson +ACY- Johnson. This is because J+ACY-J 's trade-mark was approved before the American Red Cross was able to secure the trade-mark in the US. This exception applies only in the US. If you check their web site carefully it says that the communication is intended for US visitors. J+ACY-J cannot market products in Canada with the Red Cross."
JamieJones talk 12:59, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
"An alternative symbol of first aid-a white cross on a green background-is recommended by the International Organization for Standardization and used in various countries including Canada. The Standards Council of Canada can provide further information about this symbol"
"Some believe that the Red Cross emblem is an internationally recognized symbol of first aid. IT IS NOT. The Society cannot grant permission for its emblem to be used at first aid or emergency locations when it has no control over the location or its personnel. Doctors, dispensaries, private clinics, pharmacies or first aid products that are not provided by the Canadian Red Cross are not entitled to display the emblem."
-- from the Red Cross National Office in Canada
--> JamieJones talk 17:56, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
The images are great. I don't know much about the star of life so i assume it's public domain? And since many of us were confused about the red cross emblem and associated it with first aid, maybe I could put a short piece on the first aid page about it? JamieJones talk 12:46, 24 February 2006 (UTC)
Perhaps fixed already, but Wilderness_first_aid links back here. --Jidanni 2006-04-15
Hey everybody. Am trying to get a wikiproject on first aid going. Please see User:John24601/Wikiprojectfirstaid if you are interested, and spread the word! -- John24601 20:41, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
I think we should split off the wilderness first aid article. It seems to be well written and possess none of the problems (like walkthroughs) that the rest of the article contains. The topic is complex and could be further discussed in its own article. We could leave a summary and a link. St.isaac 23:20, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
Sometimes, it can be hard to know which ones are spam, and which one are entered just to make profit from advertisements or if there are any bad sites or something. External links need be professional and reliable. I assumed goverment sites should be good, so I googled some and found some sites, maybe you can check if they are good and suited as link or better suited than some of the current links, I don't know. -- Frap
I added a link to the First Aid Registry for Certifications today....this is a relatively new site but offers a lot of capability to many different user groups. (Snappled, 8/5/2009) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Snappled ( talk • contribs) 02:41, 6 August 2009 (UTC)
....And now it has been removed? The First Aid Training Book Online 1 & 2 from the Red Cross is also from a commercial site. Red Cross has been charging for all First Aid programs for decades? (Snappled 8/6/2009) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Snappled ( talk • contribs) 14:16, 6 August 2009 (UTC)
I have had the fortune of coming across the Instruction Manual for a St. John Ambulance Military First Aid course (1996 Canadian version if it makes a difference, although I could prolly get a newer version also). I wondered if inserting a paragraph about the difference is worth mentioning in the scope of this article.
are the added chapters in the book that jump out at me in browsing.
What are your thoughts ? exit2dos2000 22:45, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
I propose that the details of qualifications by country are of no real relevance to this article and should be deleted. Owain.davies 17:33, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
I'm not sure Hyperbaric medicine is first aid. Isn't it the final treatment? Mark.murphy 08:15, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
Just wondering why my external link to St. John's Ambulance was removed? As someone said in their revision rollback - it needs to provide further information - of which it clearly does. For example, the Wikipedia article and subsequent external links do not provide much information at all on child first aid, where as the SJA page does. -- leopheard 23:21, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
The links to BRC, SJA and SAA were all removed, and i have restored them. I believe that as sector leaders not just in the UK, but the two largest first aid training providers worldwide, they are inherently notable, and well worth a brief mention and wikilink to their own pages. Owain.davies 06:06, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
Lots of people will visit this entry with the assumption that after 8-12 hours of training, they will be capable of delivering effective first aid to an accident victim (or accident patient?).
Conceivably, this is a false assumption. Or it might be true. I wish some editor here could cite "real world" studies that address this rather straightforward medical issue, which has fundamental relevance to the entry.
In a quick Web search I've found no answer, yet the question is rather obvious.
-JS —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.248.167.189 ( talk) 03:42, 1 March 2008 (UTC)
Shouldn't spinal injuries be in there as well? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.101.108.236 ( talk) 08:33, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
iupoi;po-]o-i009n09p[il0=9po ko[k[][o[ jlkkpojop'l[ oj o;k'po —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.31.60.185 ( talk) 15:10, 6 October 2009 (UTC)
We do need to spilt out wilderness first aid. It whould be seperatly expanded. All who object come forth.
K0Yaku August 7
wo lives in murlipura — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.215.255.149 ( talk) 15:56, 30 August 2014 (UTC)
It mentions Greeks using bandages but ignores that most greek doctors studied in ancient Egypt (once called Kmt aka Kemet). Remember that ancient African Egyptians were wrapping bodies (we call them mummies) and Imhotep was treating and wrapping patients thousands of years ago, and way before the people we today call Greeks. I will attempt to correct the article, but usually when I make such corrections, racists among the Wikipedia editor teams, delete my edits and block me for editing articles. -- 2604:2000:DDD1:4900:EDC7:A73D:C147:9C56 ( talk) 10:28, 12 March 2017 (UTC). I like how the colorful history of first aid is shown.
The caption reads: "The universal first aid symbol (or the background may be red with a white cross)" but a white cross on red forms the Swiss national flag and is not recognized internationally as a first aid symbol, even if many manufacturers ignore this. The "may be" in this caption could suggest that a white cross on red is acceptable, which it isn't. The article "First aid kit" does not make this mistake [1] and correctly cites only the ISO 7010 white cross on green. Should the caption be changed to remove this IMHO misleading addition? PsyQ ( talk) 08:44, 21 February 2018 (UTC)
References
This bullet point under the "Aims" section appears to be a run on sentence.
"Prevent further harm: also sometimes called prevent the condition from worsening, or danger of further injury, this covers both external factors, such as moving a patient away from any cause of harm, and applying first aid techniques to prevent worsening of the condition, such as applying pressure to stop a bleed becoming dangerous."
How can we make it better?
Brad paintball13 ( talk) 11:33, 30 July 2015 (UTC)
“Aims” is one of the headings in the table of content. This heading is vague because it has no subheading that gives hints what kinds of aims or how many aims the section has. In this section, there are three key aims of first aid have discussed. I think listing the name of the three aims as a subheading under the heading “Aims” would help the readers know what the first aid aims are before reading the section. I would like to add "Preserve life", "Prevent further harm", and "promote recovery" as the three subheadings. Chuchusha1 ( talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:31, 15 November 2018 (UTC)
Hello everyone, Myself and another medical student will be working on this page for the next month or so as part of a wikipedia editing class.
My intended process includes the following: Print and read through entire article making note of weirdnesses and brainstorming other sections. Read talk page and archived page to see what are current and past concerns. Look for exemplars of similar things (CPR was also C grade... maybe carpal tunnel surgery or breast conserving surgery as was suggested by colleagues? Not sure what is really a parallel for structure) Make a list of potential new sections I know I specifically want to include some sort of triage/ABCs ish diagram, have a clear list of links to how tos, link stuff in the FA kit, separate the element components of first aid. I think I’m going to to look at up to date? Or maybe just google first aid / first aid encyclopedia to get more background. Suggestions and Comments welcome! 2019MMM ( talk • contribs)
I like how the history of first aid is shown, I also like the highlighting of the three p's and the pictures that pertain well to the topic. I only spotted a few issues. In the beginning when you are talking about the different rules of first aid in various countries you should maybe add some links to those rules. Also maybe mention the downside of first aid where people have gotten sued for causing more harm than good. Lastly, there are almost no references under the training heading.
This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 |
This definitely needs to be reviewed. I'm training as a certified disaster service worker, under FEMA-approved training, but a review/rewrite by a real MD or EMT would be better. Ray Van De Walker
I am an EMT-B (VA) and have begun a rewrite. What was there wasn't bad at all, but needed to be fleshed out. The only thing I think was actually wrong was that first aid doesn't refer to what EMTs do. In some sense, this is true but EMTs generally use the term, probably because if we don't do first aid, and we're not allowed to practice medicine, then what do we do? Anyway, I've always used first aid to refer to anything done before MDs get involved, which can be anything from a band-aid to an emergency tracheotomy. Tokerboy 12:58 Nov 13, 2002 (UTC)
Comment: user:clarka I have hacked at this now and again. but I don't put anything in that I'm not 100% sure of. See the EMT article for what EMTs do. First aid is what laypersons do. (someone write an article on CERT before I do, please!) I didn't want to overwhelm novices (particularly the poor guy doing first aid because Google pulled up the wiki article because someone is hurt _right now_, which is one reason for emphasizing Call for Help and the very carefully written Call for Help article) . . . but I wanted to link to more comprehensive material elsewhere as well. Emergency medicine is what EMTs and paramedics do. You are acting under the direction of an MD (either by licensure for EMTs or by direct supervision for paramedics) and you _ARE_ a medical professional. An emergency needle cricothorocotomy is NOT first aid, and I certainly do not want to give instructions for an emergency tracheotomy in wikipedia because I am NOT an MD myself. As you are licensed you are held to a higher standard of care, Good Sam flies out the window, and you should have malpractice insurance. Thanks for continuing to stab at it, but please try to keep it organized! :)
If the patient is conscious, it is important to ask for permission before proceeding. Touching another person under any circumstances without that person's permission is considered assault in most jurisdictions.
5 years ago I followed a first aid training course in Belgium. I don't remember anything said about consent (but I'm not sure). Is this a US thing? Care should be taken with legal matters as they may vary widely from country to country. D.D. 10:39 Jan 8, 2003 (UTC)
Comment: clarka. Agreed but I think consent is required internationally as well. It is certainly better for the patient and good form, if not legally required.
Something else: in Belgium I AM allowed to touch persons without their consent in some special circumstances. For example to perform a so-called "civil arrest" (= immobilize a criminal until the police arrives -- I'm not sure about the English translation). D.D. 10:43 Jan 8, 2003 (UTC)
clarka: this has NOTHING to do with first aid. It is citizen's arrest or to put it accurately, a private person arrest. See security guard Thanks though.
I'd like to take issue with the section on "ABC". First of all, the acronym should be used in the plural ("ABC's"), with the s representing severe bleeding. Second, to the best of my knowledge, the ABC's thing is just a CPR guideline, whereas the actual list of immediate emergencies is as follows: stopped breathing, no circulation, severe bleeding, internal poisoning. I was taught this list under the name of "hurry cases." It eliminates the "airway" portion of "ABC's", which is redundant with "breathing" except in the context of CPR.
Furthermore, the statement that severe bleeding should be checked for by patting down the body is absolutely ridiculous. Severe bleeding means copious bleeding - either the pool of blood that we've all seen in movies, or (in the case of a punctured artery) spurts of blood.
I'm going to change that section to talk strictly about CPR, and add a new section on the four hurry cases. - Smack 18:46, 10 Aug 2003 (UTC)
I've removed these two links:
They were added by an anonymous user (68.7.15.227), removed by me, then added by the user again. As far as I can tell they are links to commercial sites and as the user has contributed only those links to wikipedia, I think they are just spam. If the user wishes to add them to the page again could they please explain here their justification for doing so? Tjwood 17:40, 10 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Triage should be treated like a dick, as it is a crucial step. -- Fighter 18:49, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
User:Esseye has proposed a merge of WFA into the First Aid article. I personally disagree; the two have different certifications and skill sets, both for general first aid users as well as skilled EMTs and other practicioners. The lack of equipment, additional environmental hazards (e.g. the high probability of hypothermia in a cold weather incident), and difficulties of evacuation/rescue make the two different topics entirely, although not unrelated. (As an example, in the WFA course I took, we responded to a scenario with eight trained first aiders, taking two to three hours of constant work. The incident was a single person with a broken leg (Closed fracture of the right fibula), which is barely even an emergency in the city.) Do not merge. ByeByeBaby 05:06, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
From the Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not page:
I think this page is in pretty clear violation of that policy. Plus, the first aid advice is for a variety of different things that do not belong on this page; stuff should instead just link to the "bites and stings" page or whatever, and put the detail there. Otherwise you have problems with redundant material.
The part of the page on what first aid and wilderness first aid is is fine. It's the "specific conditions" section with detail about treatment of individual conditions that has a problem. It should be integrated into the bulleted "conditions that often need first aid" list with maybe a sentence after each item explaining what it is and linking to that page. There is no reason to duplicate the information here. Remember that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia.
Last, I have a concern about the quality of the medical advice being given. I think it's done in too cursory of a manner and is thus potentially dangerous. Some parts could be interpreted as advising untrained people to provide treatment that is far above their standard of care. Another example is the 'when not to give CPR' section, that is so vaguely worded that anyone could stop CPR any time by these guidelines. "When the patient is stiff and obviously dead" is wrong: no one is dead until warm and dead. Somebody following just this advice without other medical background could easily really hurt someone. This type of thing proves that wikipedia first aid page does not have enough space to be giving good medical advice. But it can link to an external page that does, like, oh, say the red cross or something. -- Delldot 14:06, 21 October 2005 (UTC)
-- Gadget850 21:13, 4 November 2005 (UTC)
The page seems to consist of guesswork and outdated information, D for example stands for "Disability" and not "Deadly bleeding", and once you start CPR you have to continue until paramedics arrive to take over, regardless of how long so if you start it you need to make sure you can follow through. and a person can only be prenounced dead by a layman if there's damage that can't be associated with life, like if the head is separated from the neck or all the internal organs are lying next to the body otherwise it's up to a doctor to make the call. This whole article needs a complete rewrite. 78.156.214.135 ( talk) 21:01, 16 June 2010 (UTC)
The scope of the first aider seems to have been over-estimated in some cases; and vastly under-estimated in others. I propose a major re-write of the article to reflect this. The list of conditions I think should really reflect the responsibilities of a normal first aider, and therefore shouldn't really have childbirth, toothache, cramps, or diving disorders. The section regarding antibiotic treatment for wounds is irrelevent as far as first aid goes; and heamorraghe & bleeding are the same thing so there's no need to list them twice.
The section on techniques needs to be added to; although I would strongly advise the removal of tourniquets - they are NOT a first aid measure, infact, siting a tourniquet is not even that common a procedure in the ED/ER due to its dangers.
The section on CPR is particularly worrying - "if the patient is stiff and is obviously dead". I presume this refers to rigor mortis - that's not something which a first aider is likely to see, and is certainly not something which they would immediately recognise. It should be removed. "after twenty minutes of CPR with no pulse or breathing" - again, not a recommendation I have ever taught or been made aware of (I am a first aid trainer/examiner with several large UK organisations) - we generally teach that CPR should be stopped if 1) The casualty regains signs of life 2) The rescuer becomes tired 3) The situation becomes dangerous 4) Professional Help arrives and tells you to stop.
The primary survey section is a little misleading regarding attempting CPR before calling the emergency services. The Resuscitation Council (UK) 2000 guidelines reccomend it ONLY in cases of trauma, and pre-hospital traumatic arrest is not that common (in the UK, at least, the vast majority of out of hospital cardiac arrests are medical, 2/3 alone are due to MI).
First Aiders do use the PRINCIPLES of secondary survey; but they aren't taught to follow such a strict procedure as is set out in the article. The secondary survey is only carried out by first aiders in VERY rare situations anyway, as by the time they've done a primary survey, phoned for an ambulance, and provided critical interventions (CPR, pressure on wounds, treatment for shock etc...), help will have arrived. There is no merit in a first aider carrying out a secondary survey as defined in the article in the vast majority of situations.
I'll be happy to do a re-write taking these things into consideration, if that's what people want? -- John24601 22:41, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
I'd also be happy to update this page. I'm a first-aid instructor in Canada, and we don't have EMTs here...perhaps a separate EMT page is better-suited for EMT stuff? I also would like to edit the "when to stop CPR" part, as it is in a wilderness first aid context, and is incorrect for general first aiders. For example, a first aider who stops after 20 minutes is definitely vulnerable to lawsuit, from a first aid perspective. JamieJones 16:12, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
I agree with above editors. Quite clearly, this article goes beyond the content it should contain. Instead, brief outlines of what is first aid and links to other articles would be most appropriate. Also, a very clear link to the First Aid wikibook at the top of the page would be most appropriate. On this talk page, we should also add a notice that this article is about the concept of first aid, and not the procedures of first aid, which may be found in the wikibook. Andrewjuren 22:06, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
I'm only a volunteer driver for a small, mostly volunteer ambulance corps in the States, but how about "subject" instead of patient or victim? Very generic and nicely vague. And, as basically a lay person, with just American Red Cross basic first aid and cpr, I agree with not printing how-to's. Nobody should be encouraged to think that just reading such material will prepare them properly to handle emergency situations. Volygirl ( talk) 00:34, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
I'd like to propose that we do not use the term "victim" in this article. According to wiktionary, a victim is an aggrieved or disadvantaged party in a crime or disaster. Often, in first aid, the patient is not a victim (because of self-inflicted injury or accident) and, as a rule, that word is not used in Canada to describe patients. This is generally because by being labelled a "victim", many patients will have an undesired emotional response and can become combatitive. I understand that it is commonly used in the United States (and still by police forces here). Can anyone comment on how this compares in other countries? Andrewjuren 21:49, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
I am an instructor for the red cross and have had numerous discussions with them about their symbol/emblem. This usage definitely is against our policies. I know you meant well, but the red cross is pretty strict on this. For more information, see "We often see the red cross emblem used as a decorative symbol on signs, in advertising or to indicate first aid stations. This may not seem like a problem, but it is wrong. Use of the emblem by commercial enterprises dilutes the impact of the symbol at home and abroad besides being against the law. No organization -- except the Canadian Red Cross and the medical corps of the armed forces during times of armed conflict -- may use the Red Cross emblem in Canada. This use is legislated by the Geneva Conventions Act, the Trade Marks Act and the Canadian Red Cross Society Act." Thanks! JamieJones talk 22:32, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
Just curious as to how Johnson & Johnson fits in, as their first aid kits have the red cross with a registered mark. [2] -- Gadget850 ( Ed) 19:17, 12 February 2006 (UTC)
"Thanks for your vigilance on the emblem use
issue. There is a recently updated section of the Red Cross website that deals with emblem abuse ( http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id+AD0-000340+ACY-tid+AD0-019) That may be helpful for you. The ICRC and IFRC web sites also have good emblem sections (www.icrc.org and www.ifrc.org respectively).
Basically no-one except the Red Cross or the Canadian Armed Forces can use the Red Cross emblem in Canada. There are some companies that we authorize to use it (such as program sponsors) but we control these cases carefully. This is generally the case in any country that is signatory to the Geneva Conventions.
The one exception to this rule in the United States is, interestingly, Johnson +ACY- Johnson. This is because J+ACY-J 's trade-mark was approved before the American Red Cross was able to secure the trade-mark in the US. This exception applies only in the US. If you check their web site carefully it says that the communication is intended for US visitors. J+ACY-J cannot market products in Canada with the Red Cross."
JamieJones talk 12:59, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
"An alternative symbol of first aid-a white cross on a green background-is recommended by the International Organization for Standardization and used in various countries including Canada. The Standards Council of Canada can provide further information about this symbol"
"Some believe that the Red Cross emblem is an internationally recognized symbol of first aid. IT IS NOT. The Society cannot grant permission for its emblem to be used at first aid or emergency locations when it has no control over the location or its personnel. Doctors, dispensaries, private clinics, pharmacies or first aid products that are not provided by the Canadian Red Cross are not entitled to display the emblem."
-- from the Red Cross National Office in Canada
--> JamieJones talk 17:56, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
The images are great. I don't know much about the star of life so i assume it's public domain? And since many of us were confused about the red cross emblem and associated it with first aid, maybe I could put a short piece on the first aid page about it? JamieJones talk 12:46, 24 February 2006 (UTC)
Perhaps fixed already, but Wilderness_first_aid links back here. --Jidanni 2006-04-15
Hey everybody. Am trying to get a wikiproject on first aid going. Please see User:John24601/Wikiprojectfirstaid if you are interested, and spread the word! -- John24601 20:41, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
I think we should split off the wilderness first aid article. It seems to be well written and possess none of the problems (like walkthroughs) that the rest of the article contains. The topic is complex and could be further discussed in its own article. We could leave a summary and a link. St.isaac 23:20, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
Sometimes, it can be hard to know which ones are spam, and which one are entered just to make profit from advertisements or if there are any bad sites or something. External links need be professional and reliable. I assumed goverment sites should be good, so I googled some and found some sites, maybe you can check if they are good and suited as link or better suited than some of the current links, I don't know. -- Frap
I added a link to the First Aid Registry for Certifications today....this is a relatively new site but offers a lot of capability to many different user groups. (Snappled, 8/5/2009) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Snappled ( talk • contribs) 02:41, 6 August 2009 (UTC)
....And now it has been removed? The First Aid Training Book Online 1 & 2 from the Red Cross is also from a commercial site. Red Cross has been charging for all First Aid programs for decades? (Snappled 8/6/2009) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Snappled ( talk • contribs) 14:16, 6 August 2009 (UTC)
I have had the fortune of coming across the Instruction Manual for a St. John Ambulance Military First Aid course (1996 Canadian version if it makes a difference, although I could prolly get a newer version also). I wondered if inserting a paragraph about the difference is worth mentioning in the scope of this article.
are the added chapters in the book that jump out at me in browsing.
What are your thoughts ? exit2dos2000 22:45, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
I propose that the details of qualifications by country are of no real relevance to this article and should be deleted. Owain.davies 17:33, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
I'm not sure Hyperbaric medicine is first aid. Isn't it the final treatment? Mark.murphy 08:15, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
Just wondering why my external link to St. John's Ambulance was removed? As someone said in their revision rollback - it needs to provide further information - of which it clearly does. For example, the Wikipedia article and subsequent external links do not provide much information at all on child first aid, where as the SJA page does. -- leopheard 23:21, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
The links to BRC, SJA and SAA were all removed, and i have restored them. I believe that as sector leaders not just in the UK, but the two largest first aid training providers worldwide, they are inherently notable, and well worth a brief mention and wikilink to their own pages. Owain.davies 06:06, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
Lots of people will visit this entry with the assumption that after 8-12 hours of training, they will be capable of delivering effective first aid to an accident victim (or accident patient?).
Conceivably, this is a false assumption. Or it might be true. I wish some editor here could cite "real world" studies that address this rather straightforward medical issue, which has fundamental relevance to the entry.
In a quick Web search I've found no answer, yet the question is rather obvious.
-JS —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.248.167.189 ( talk) 03:42, 1 March 2008 (UTC)
Shouldn't spinal injuries be in there as well? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.101.108.236 ( talk) 08:33, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
iupoi;po-]o-i009n09p[il0=9po ko[k[][o[ jlkkpojop'l[ oj o;k'po —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.31.60.185 ( talk) 15:10, 6 October 2009 (UTC)
We do need to spilt out wilderness first aid. It whould be seperatly expanded. All who object come forth.
K0Yaku August 7
wo lives in murlipura — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.215.255.149 ( talk) 15:56, 30 August 2014 (UTC)
It mentions Greeks using bandages but ignores that most greek doctors studied in ancient Egypt (once called Kmt aka Kemet). Remember that ancient African Egyptians were wrapping bodies (we call them mummies) and Imhotep was treating and wrapping patients thousands of years ago, and way before the people we today call Greeks. I will attempt to correct the article, but usually when I make such corrections, racists among the Wikipedia editor teams, delete my edits and block me for editing articles. -- 2604:2000:DDD1:4900:EDC7:A73D:C147:9C56 ( talk) 10:28, 12 March 2017 (UTC). I like how the colorful history of first aid is shown.
The caption reads: "The universal first aid symbol (or the background may be red with a white cross)" but a white cross on red forms the Swiss national flag and is not recognized internationally as a first aid symbol, even if many manufacturers ignore this. The "may be" in this caption could suggest that a white cross on red is acceptable, which it isn't. The article "First aid kit" does not make this mistake [1] and correctly cites only the ISO 7010 white cross on green. Should the caption be changed to remove this IMHO misleading addition? PsyQ ( talk) 08:44, 21 February 2018 (UTC)
References
This bullet point under the "Aims" section appears to be a run on sentence.
"Prevent further harm: also sometimes called prevent the condition from worsening, or danger of further injury, this covers both external factors, such as moving a patient away from any cause of harm, and applying first aid techniques to prevent worsening of the condition, such as applying pressure to stop a bleed becoming dangerous."
How can we make it better?
Brad paintball13 ( talk) 11:33, 30 July 2015 (UTC)
“Aims” is one of the headings in the table of content. This heading is vague because it has no subheading that gives hints what kinds of aims or how many aims the section has. In this section, there are three key aims of first aid have discussed. I think listing the name of the three aims as a subheading under the heading “Aims” would help the readers know what the first aid aims are before reading the section. I would like to add "Preserve life", "Prevent further harm", and "promote recovery" as the three subheadings. Chuchusha1 ( talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:31, 15 November 2018 (UTC)
Hello everyone, Myself and another medical student will be working on this page for the next month or so as part of a wikipedia editing class.
My intended process includes the following: Print and read through entire article making note of weirdnesses and brainstorming other sections. Read talk page and archived page to see what are current and past concerns. Look for exemplars of similar things (CPR was also C grade... maybe carpal tunnel surgery or breast conserving surgery as was suggested by colleagues? Not sure what is really a parallel for structure) Make a list of potential new sections I know I specifically want to include some sort of triage/ABCs ish diagram, have a clear list of links to how tos, link stuff in the FA kit, separate the element components of first aid. I think I’m going to to look at up to date? Or maybe just google first aid / first aid encyclopedia to get more background. Suggestions and Comments welcome! 2019MMM ( talk • contribs)
I like how the history of first aid is shown, I also like the highlighting of the three p's and the pictures that pertain well to the topic. I only spotted a few issues. In the beginning when you are talking about the different rules of first aid in various countries you should maybe add some links to those rules. Also maybe mention the downside of first aid where people have gotten sued for causing more harm than good. Lastly, there are almost no references under the training heading.