Teaching Kids Basic First Aid

When a child is old enough to understand it, they should be taught first aid. Basic first aid skills will aid them in their life, treating their own problems and injuries, as well as those of others. A child should have an understanding of first aid basics. The following is a look at how to teach kids first aid:

Take a class: One of the best ways to teach a child first aid is to sign them up for a class on it. Most kids will pay better attention, and take things more seriously if it is not their parent teaching them. So, contact your local health department or fire department and ask if they will be sponsoring any first aid clinics in the near future, and how to get your child signed up for one.

Put together a kit: If you can’t find a class in your local vicinity, consider teaching your child yourself. A good way to start is to have an activity where you put together a first aid kit. While putting it together, talk to them about the different items going in it, from alcohol swabs to liquid bandages, to heat pads, etc. Explain their uses, and give your child a scenario in which they may find themselves in need of that particular item. Help them learn simply through conversation how and when you use first aid equipment. You could even make a game out of it, and quiz your child on how to use each item in it by holding them up in random order.

Assemble a kit together.

Role-play first aid needs: The best way to learn is hands on experience, however, you can’t exactly take a child into an ER and tell the doctors and nurses that they are there to help. Instead, role play situations. You can use stage makeup, fake blood, chicken bones, etc. to make it look more realistic, or you could simply say, “What if I am bleeding out of my head because I hit a rock when diving in a lake?” Then have them treat you or answer you. The more practice they get in role-play situations, the better they will remember when the real thing is facing them. Sometimes people free up or panic under pressure. Make sure your child feels comfortable with first aid basics so that if a situation arises for real, they go into default mode of knowing what to do to handle it.

Focus on the most basic stuff first. Chances are your child’s needs to know first aid will never exceed a certain amount. There will either be a professional on hand to take over, or they will never experience something so traumatic that it requires high levels of first aid care. So, don’t worry about things like how to suture something, or set a bone, instead talk about how to stop bleeding, how to bandage a burn, how to treat a rash, how to administer CPR and the Heimlich maneuver, etc.