Is First Aid Training Being Neglected Among Our Youth?

Everyone over the age of 12 should be trained in basic first aid.

Caption: First aid supplies to help in case of an emergency. [by Grace Meier]

by Grace Meier

A significant percentage of people between the ages of 12 and 30 lack basic first aid knowledge, with one study from the St. John Ambulance indicating that, as many as 70% or more may not know how to act in life-threatening emergencies that require immediate first aid assistance.

More than 80% of the people that I have asked and talked to about knowing first aid say that they do not know how to perform any sort of basic fist aid and would probably freeze up in an emergency or not want to act in case of messing up and hurting the person more than helping them.

Based on these findings, I believe that the practice of first aid is being neglected among the people of today. A high percentage of people today don’t know, or don’t feel confident, in their knowledge of basic first aid. This is best observed among the youth between the ages of 12 and 18, as reported by The National Institutes of Health (.gov).

In my opinion, it would be extremely beneficial to people in their younger years to be trained in first aid and have that better understanding of what to do in case of an emergency.

According to recent studies from The National Institutes of Health (.gov), 43.75% of people under 18 are not confident in taking action with immediate first aid assistance if an emergency were to occur.

Caption: Paula Asare-Duah at the nurse getting checked up using first aid supplies. [by Grace Meier]

First aid is being neglected in people all the way through the ages of 30 and younger. In a study from the St. John Ambulance, over 75% of people under the age of 30 are lacking in first aid training and were concerned about the extent of their training if an emergency were to occur. Many of which simply lacked knowledge of what first aid is in the first place.

According to a recent study from the National Institutes of Health (.gov), 59% of injury related deaths could have been prevented by immediate, timely first aid assistance.

Over 25% of the deaths were from injuries from people between the ages of 12-18 and could have been helped by a bystander from the ages of 12 and 30. Though, they did not know how to help because of lack of training and/or confidence in first aid.

Some quick research online shows that the amount of time a student would need to spend when trying to be certified and secure in their knowledge and abilities in first aid, regular classes can be taken online or in person and will only ever take one day to complete the course.

I believe that if an instructor was provided to help guide students between the ages of 12-18, you would only need to take a four to eight hour course for only one day out of the year, one time a year, to be fully certified in first aid training when learning the basics. It is my opinion that this is something every school should offer to their secondary students on a yearly basis.

According to the American Red Cross, you need to take a class every year to keep up a certification in first aid for CPR, and once every two years for the basics in first aid.

The American Red Cross provides basic first aid training to all ages but still emphasises an importance in taking certain in-person classes for better understanding. The National Safety Council also provides online courses for basic first aid learning, again emphasising the importance of an in-person follow up class.

The prices for in person and online classes typically range from $15 to $40 depending on the course and type of skill set that you are trying to learn.

In my opinion, learning basic first aid is not a difficult task and is something that should be considered a necessity. I believe that this is especially true in schools, so that people won’t have to run the risk of getting seriously injured because trained personnel was not available and immediate bystander first aid wasn’t provided.