It's called First Aid for a reason...

Ever wonder how they came up with the term "first aid"?  No? Not on the top of your list of things to ponder?

How about don't ponder but practice?  First Aid is one of the most important life skills.  Because it's just what it says it is - first aid.  First Aid lets you be the person to do the sometimes simple things that can actually save a person's life in a medical or trauma emergency.

Not being melodramatic here - but unless a person happens to plan their emergency on the doorstep of the hospital emergency room or the parking lot of the local fire/rescue station, help is going to be at the very least a few minutes away.  The bystander who has even minimal training in basic first aid can literally be the difference between life and death for that victim.  That is not even considering the issue of something happening while you are out hiking in the back country or even on a day hike in the Whites.

I'm not going to try to teach you first aid in a blog (although it's remarkably easy to do a few things that are critically life saving) but to hopefully start the thought process of considering getting a bit of training.

The American Heart Association and the American Red Cross all run First Aid and CPR classes and I'd be pretty sure there is one in your area.  The cost is minimal considering what you get out of it.  You can even set up a class for the members of your organization.  Most of us belong to some sort of group - or even just a bunch of friends who spend time doing things they love?   Individual trainers are usually more than willing to teach a day class for just the cost of materials.  When I was teaching I figured the more people I trained the better off we all were.

Think of it this way:  if you had your choice in an emergency would you rather have a solid idea of what to do or would you want to be stuck freezing in place in panic and confusion?  Trust me when I tell you there is nothing more frightening than not knowing how to help when something goes south.   I know that most of us would actually rather not ever be involved in a medical emergency -  however it is particularly scary if you have no training!  So I'm giving you an alternative here!

Think it over and look around for a class - hey, it's cold outside now and this is a great way to occupy some of those lousy winter days when you've watched so many reruns of Criminal Minds that you are starting to suspect your next door neighbor of being a serial killer!  As always it's up to you to git er done!