The European First Aid Manual (EFAM), which will soon be available to the world on the Internet - http://www.efam.be, features digital texts and high-resolution photographs. It is designed as an easy-to-use, top-level reference for first aid instructors and authors, to help them develop publications and other didactic materials.

The project was initiated by the Belgian Red Cross and supported by the European Commission. It brought together 29 European experts to draft a set of guidelines on how best to administer first aid in certain situations. Some are innovative, and the manual also includes existing guidelines such as the generalized positioning in public places, of automated external defibrillators, which can re-start a heart that has stopped or is beating irregularly.

The announcement of the publication of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ first electronic, on-line first aid manual, was made at the First Aid Education European Network’s annual meeting, held in Geneva from 4 to 7 October.

According to Dr. Pascal Cassan, coordinator of the Federation’s European Reference Centre for First Aid Education, studies have proven that, when at least 30% of the population is trained in first aid, the chances of survival of an accident victim increase considerably.

“This is why 52 European Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have, as a common goal, to increase by 4 % each year the number of people trained in life-saving first aid techniques, and the new electronic manual can be an essential tool to achieve this,” he notes.

“This year, the First Aid Education European Network is also proud to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the creation of the European First Aid Certificate, already adopted by 30 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Europe train more than 3 million people every year in first aid – that is more than half of the estimated 5,900,000 people trained in life-saving techniques annually on the continent.

But, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ European Reference Centre for First Aid Education, their expertise is recognized not only in terms of numbers, but also in the quality of training and of teaching materials.

First Aiders in Action

Since the Caribbean First Aid Project began in November 2005, a number of new first aiders have been called to put their skills to the test.

Just the day after the new resuscitation guidelines were rolled out in Trinidad and Tobago, Anicka Senior, First Aid Coordinator for Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross and Donna Williams, Project Coordinator were called to attend to a young man who had been electrocuted setting up for Carnival. 

Anicka says, ‘At the training Ken Sharpe (British Red Cross) harped on about how the simplicity of the new CPR techniques would inspire First Aiders to use their CPR skills more. I only fully appreciated how true this is after becoming one of them. I was sitting in my office engrossed in writing my monthly report, when in came Donna Williams. She and I were the only First Aiders here at Head Quarters being that it was rather late in the evening.

“Anicka, get ready to use your CPR skills, we’ve got an emergency,” Donna commanded. Together we bolted out of the building and into the car park where we met with a group of people carrying the limp body of a young man. The young man had been electrocuted while hanging a banner from an electricity poll.

e was unconscious. We lay him on the grass and sprang into action, easily recalling the lesson on DR ABC – danger, response, airway, and breathing, CPR. Even in the heat of moment where blind panic could have ensued, we were both able to recall the new CPR guidelines. We went through the motions and continued doing the CPR both until the ambulance arrived and in the ambulance itself as it took the casualty to hospital.’

For Anne-Marie Richmond, Administrator at the IFRC Sub Regional Office in Port of Spain, it was Red Cross first aid training that saved her brothers life.

Woken at 4.30 a.m., the morning after having completed a Red Cross Basic First Aid course, Ann–Marie found her brother, lying unconscious on the floor.  She quickly asked her 17 year old daughter to call an ambulance while she checked her brother for signs of life.  Anne-Marie said, ‘He was cold and clammy and quite stiff.

She cleared his airway but before she had time to begin CPR her brother’s eyes flickered opened and he started a seizure.  Ann-Marie took care of him throughout the seizure and ensured he wouldn’t hurt himself on any nearby objects.  Finally the ambulance arrived and her brother was taken swiftly to hospital.

Released that weekend the family are glad to have him home safe and well.  When asked how she felt to save her brother’s life Ann-Marie said she was very focused whilst she was carrying out the first aid but felt quite emotional afterwards.  Being the strong one in her family there is an expectation that Ann-Marie can handle any situation and this was proven once again to be true.

Ann-Marie has worked for the Federation for the past 3 ½ years and previously worked for Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross for 5 years.  Although Anne-Marie had undergone first aid training some time ago she feels she was more able to take control of the situation and not panic, giving first aid calmly with the techniques fresh in her mind from just the day before.  ‘Whatever you do be sure to stay clam and don’t panic.  If you don’t feel confident contact your local Red Cross to do a first aid refresher course and update your skills’.

For Stephanie Young-Scheuerman, First Aid Coordinator at Belize Red Cross, it was more than just saving one life when she was stopped in traffic returning from a first aid education weekend at the local agricultural show.  As soon as she realized that the cause of the traffic was a bad car accident she grabbed her first aid kit and ran to the scene. 

Lucky for Stephanie she is great at prioritizing.  As the only first aider on scene she had two car loads of injured people and some rather aggressive but less injured casualties.  Because there is such a limited ambulance service in Belize Stephanie knew that it would be down to her to make sure everyone was ok. 

She worked with some of the bystanders to calm down the young men who had been in the accident.  She then moved onto a car still holding a family of four in considerable shock.  The father was ok, but the mother had a deep gash in her leg. 

Stephanie asked her to apply pressure whilst checking the children in the back seat.  One of the girls appeared to have badly injured her face, her braces cutting through her jaw.  The other sister had a deep wound on her head and was losing blood. 

Stephanie used the supplies from her first aid kit to stop the bleeding and asked a member of the public to call ahead to the hospital as the ambulance would not be there for some time.  In a split decision which almost certainly saved the older child’s life Stephanie had her plants - bought earlier at the agricultural show - out of her car and the mother and two children in the car and off to the hospital.  By the time the ambulance arrived with the other less injured casualties the child was already in surgery having her face operated on.

Stephanie who is known for her complete lack of squeamishness and a love of gruesome crime shows said ‘I felt totally calm, and I knew what to do, thanks to all the training I have had through the project.  The blood didn’t bother me at all.  The hardest part was trying to keep everyone else calm.  At one point the guys who had their car hit were coming after the family with baseball bats.  I just had to tell them that the people who had the most injuries were the ones who would get my help first.’ 

All those involved in the accident are recovering well.