Posted: 10/29/2008 1:06:55 AM EDT
|
I was wondering if anyone has taken any Red Cross first aid courses? I am planning on taking the Wilderness Course and the First Aid/CPR/AED course. Not that I will have an AED....
I am going to try and get my company to pay for the First Aid/CPR/AED course. But will take it even if they don't. I would like any input anyone has with either of these courses. I have no training in first aid, other than what mom taught. Disinfect, anti-biotic, slap a bandage on it! TIA, Toad |
|
All of those courses - even the wilderness course, are geared toward the modern world and support structure. Some "survival" types are thus turned off by them.
First Aid is, after all, merely the first aid provided before professional medical care can take over. Survival medicine is a whole different ball game. |
|
I strongly recommend taking the course. It is defiantly geared in the direction of providing basic care until help arrives, but it will at least give you some foundation to work with. Even better than the red cross first aid would be a EMT-First Responder course. This is a 40 hour course, and is often used by volunteer fire companies, so that their fire fighters can provide some care until an EMT-B or paramedic arrives. EMT-B would be even better, but at 240 hours, it is allot more difficult to fit in.
In short, the red cross first aid is a good start, but do not let it be the extent of your medical training. |
| I took it for work last year. CPR, Heimlich, put pressure on a wound, AED operation, that's about it. They assume there's an ambulance on the way, and if there is the course covers most of what you're likely to need out at Applebee's or whatever. When I talked to the Red Cross people they didn't seem to offer any survival medicine type courses, but what they did have was well presented. |
|
Quoted:
All of those courses - even the wilderness course, are geared toward the modern world and support structure. Some "survival" types are thus turned off by them. First Aid is, after all, merely the first aid provided before professional medical care can take over. Survival medicine is a whole different ball game. To add, however, and not detract: The clueless way some people handle bandaids and neosporin gives me little hope for what they might do if someone had a real problem. I certainly agree with Adam that the Red Cross stuff is designed with the idea that EMS is only a short ride away. But if you've never been exposed to anything more advanced than cuts and scrapes, the CPR and first aid course is a good way to start. At the very least, you'll start to learn about your ABCs. Red Cross certifications can also be a boon to you in a 'good samaritan' situation, so long as you stick to your level of training. It's better than nothing at all. But it does fall woefully short of being a well-rounded knowledge of survival medicine. |
|
Being a Red Cross instructor and seeing who they pass in their instructor level courses doesn't give me the feeling many will be able to function in a real emegency.
Several in my instructor class could barely perform simple tasks themselves and they are suppose to teach it. 
|
|
I've been involved in first aid since 1985 and have watched the RC classes
steadily get dumber and dumber. I took (and have maintained) my EMT in 1987 and seen the same thing. I've taught both and stopped when it started getting too dumb. While I won't discount the value of an untrained civilian taking even a basic FA class (because it DOES save lives, including possibly your own), the true survivalist should look at Wilderness First Responder as a good starting point and Wilderness EMT. |
|
Quoted:
While I won't discount the value of an untrained civilian taking even a basic FA class (because it DOES save lives, including possibly your own), the true survivalist should look at Wilderness First Responder as a good starting point and Wilderness EMT. Where can you find the WFR classes? |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
While I won't discount the value of an untrained civilian taking even a basic FA class (because it DOES save lives, including possibly your own), the true survivalist should look at Wilderness First Responder as a good starting point and Wilderness EMT. Where can you find the WFR classes? Yea, what he said. My google-fu must be weak, because I can't find a First Responder course in my area. I still plan on taking the FA class, because I need to learn CPR. Toad |
| I took both the basic and advanced FA courses back in the mid 80s. Back then, they still assumed that EMS would be there to take over but the course did have focus on giving life support WITHOUT medical supplies - i.e., making splints out of handkerchiefs and tree limbs. I thought the courses, then, were excellent and I still remember most of the training. Can't say, though, how they're done today. |