What are the aspects of the relationship between first aid and emergency health

First aid is the front-end carrier in the emergency health system that directly connects to mass risk scenarios. The two are deeply bound to the full link from immediate treatment to pre-prevention and back-end recovery. Talking about emergency health without first aid is essentially a paper plan without practical support.

Many people's understanding of the relationship between the two is still "first aid is all about emergency health in the event of an accident." In fact, anyone who has actually done grassroots emergency work knows that the binding between the two is much deeper than everyone thinks. Last year, I organized a community emergency drill in the old city. Just after it was over, Uncle Zhang in the community suddenly suffered a heart attack and fell to the ground. An owner who happened to have participated in the drill remembered the key points of the golden 4 minutes and immediately stepped forward to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. When 120 arrived, Uncle Zhang was still unconscious. If no one dares to rescue the patient, no matter how detailed the follow-up of chronic diseases in the community hospital is and how smooth the referral channel of the tertiary hospital is, the loss of the missed prime time window for myocardial infarction cannot be recovered.

If you only understand first aid as an operation within ten minutes of an accident, it is too narrow. In fact, it is also the easiest entrance to emergency health science popularization. Now we provide first aid training in the community. We never only teach operations such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the Heimlich maneuver. We also include daily emergency health knowledge such as how to lie down when a hypertensive patient suddenly becomes dizzy, how to quickly cool down for heat stroke, and what emergency supplies the elderly should prepare at home. Many family members originally wanted to learn first aid skills for self-defense. After listening to it, they understood what risks elderly people with underlying diseases at home should pay attention to when changing seasons. This is equivalent to pushing the emergency health defense line from "rescuing after an accident" to "preventing in advance."

There are actually different opinions on the boundary between the two in the industry. Some experts who do public health research believe that first aid should focus on the core processing links of emergency response. Don’t include science popularization and pre-management of chronic diseases in the first aid category, otherwise it will easily distract the already insufficient first aid resources. Some colleagues in grassroots practice feel that the public’s emergency health literacy is generally not high. First aid is the module with the strongest perception and highest acceptance by everyone, and it can fully carry more functions of science popularization and pre-intervention. In fact, there is nothing wrong with either statement. The core depends on the resource endowment of each place. For example, first-tier cities have enough teachers, venues and funds, and they can combine first-aid training with emergency health science popularization. If there are not many certified first-aid instructors in remote areas and counties, first covering the core first-aid treatment capabilities is the highest priority.

A while ago, I went to a village in the western mountainous area to do a free clinic. The local village doctor could only bandage simple wounds before. Last year, he participated in the first aid skills training organized by the county. Not only did he learn temporary treatment of emergency cases and precautions for transportation, but he also organized an emergency health plan for the entire village. When I patrolled the village, I measured the blood pressure of the elderly and reminded people to open windows for ventilation when heating coal stoves. Last winter, they stopped three gas leaks that almost caused poisoning incidents. To put it bluntly, first aid and emergency health are not two separate modules. Just like the first aid kit you keep at home. It contains not only first aid supplies such as tourniquets and sterile gauze, but also daily emergency health supplies such as antipyretics, antihypertensive drugs, and iodophors. When put together, it can really be used when danger comes.