World First Aid Day 2022 to be observed on September 10: know history, significance and how to celebrate

On the second Saturday of every September, World First Aid Day is celebrated to promote awareness about how first aid can save millions of lives globally. This year that second Saturday is falling on September 10. It was 11 September last year.
That's the reason World First Aid Day 2022 is being observed on September 10 this year.

World First Aid Day 2022: Theme

• 'Lifelong First Aid' is the theme for World First Aid Day 2022.

World First Aid Day: History

The Day was instituted by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in 2000. The main objective was to promote training and awareness of first aid so that every individual can act as a Red Cross activist saving lives around him.

What is First Aid and why its called so?

As the name suggests, it is an aid or assistance given to an injured firstly - meaning right after the pain or injury has been detected. This instantaneous, but effective, medical intervention is done to reduce pain and injury and thus increase the chance of survival of the patient before taking him/her to a professional doctor. With First Aid done right, one can ensure speedy recovery with the least damage.

World First Aid Day Significance

Millions of people and animals die from injuries every year. The majority of them could easily have been saved had they gotten timely medical aid OR first aid. First aid often becomes the difference between life and death especially when the patient is critical. Even minor injuries can get critical if left unattended resulting in loss of money, time, energy and sometimes life.

From cutting hands with the knife to falling from a bicycle or stairs. There are many ways one can get injured needing medical help. You don't have to be a doctor to save a life. Knowing and having basic first aid stuff can make you save a life someday. The timely intervention can also save a medical case from going critical, thus saving money, time and energy.

Red Cross societies believe that each one of us must possess the knowledge and stuffs needed in First Aid at all time. To save lives and manage medical emergencies that we can.

How World First Aid Day is celebrated across the globe

• Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies organize events, workshops, and ceremonies teaching the why and how of First Aid to people around the world.

How to celebrate the World First Aid Day 2022

• We can take the help of the local Red Cross, NGOs, or Medical Societies to organize a one-day workshop teaching people how to perform basic first aid if and when someone gets hurt.
• Role-play OR Drama can be enacted to explain to kids how and where first aid can be helpful.
• Factories/Offices/Colleges can organize workshops and seminars to train adults on how to do First Aid.

We all must have a First Aid Kit at our homes and workplaces. Let's know the basic items they must contain

Must-have things in your First Aid Box

• ​Antiseptic creams: It saves from septic OR infection from poisonous bacteria
• ​Adhesive bandages: These reduce the chances of infections
• Tweezers: To remove foreign objects like thorns or pins lodged in the skin.
• ​Tape and sterile gauze: It can be handy in minimizing bleeding
• ​Muscle pain spray or tube: They can be used for instant relief from muscle sprain and backache
• ​Pain relievers: Pain can seize you anywhere and at any time. Swallow one until you meet the doctor. It will give you the much-needed temporary relief till you see a doctor for long-term treatment
• ​Thermometer and medicine for common and frequent ailments like fever, cough, cold, headache, body ache etc.

Work and History of Red Cross

• Swiss humanitarian Henry Dunant having seen and helped the injured in the battle of Solferino in 1859, wrote a book proposing the formation of voluntary relief societies to help the war-injured across the globe. It was due to his efforts that the Red Cross was founded in 1863.
• Red Cross, formally known as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Initially, The Red Cross was only meant to care for people injured in wars, but later the scope was extended even to peacetime.

Its peacetime activities include

First aid, accident prevention, training of nurses' aids and mothers' assistants, and maintenance of maternal and child welfare centres and medical clinics, blood banks, and numerous other services.

Difference between Red Cross and Red Crescent organisation

• The Red Cross is the original name of the organization serving everywhere except the Muslim countries.
• The name Red Crescent was adopted on the insistence of the Ottoman Empire in 1906 as the Cross is considered to be a Christian religious symbol. The organisation is known as Red Crescent across all Muslim countries.