First Aid Class Notes

None	Introduction	First Aid Kits
Click here for a printable version of this page.

This material is intended to aid the teaching of First Aid merit badge. These notes, along with practical instruction, should allow any scout to earn the badge. The importance of practical instruction is difficult to overstress. The skills needed for proper first aid cannot be learned alone.

First Aid is a huge badge. The list of requirements, which is long enough to begin with, is nearly doubled by the inclusion of requirement 1: "Satisfy your counselor that you have current knowledge of all first-aid requirements for Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class ranks."

Teaching the badge (properly) from start to finish takes at least ten hours of instruction. If the class size is large (more than 5 scouts), the instruction time may go up dramatically.

Contents

This curriculum is divided into a number of modules, covering all of the requirements for First Aid merit badge.

What is first aid?

First aid is the immediate response to an injury.

For major injuries, it is how a responder prevents an injury from worsening and sustains life until professional medical help arrives.

For minor injuries, first aid is the response to an injury and often includes treatment.

Rules of Thumb

Rules for first aid:

Don't panic. Think about what you're doing and move carefully. If you're calm, your patient will be calm.
Never move an injured person unless they are in immediate danger.
Never leave an injured person unless you are unable to continue giving aid or you are relieved by someone more qualified than yourself.
When in doubt, assume a head/neck injury especially when a person falls from a height taller than themselves.
Never be afraid to improvise. First aid is rarely required when first aid kits are handy.