Ranting.

To be brief, I sometimes wonder if the very basics of the Red Cross are forgotten. With the constant talk of furthering our skills and striving to reach the very pinnacle of first aid excellence, I end up thinking that the basic principle of our society is overlooked as we aim for the heights of our abilities.

Ok, I'm being a total hypocrite here; I'm trying to train to the standards of an Emergency Response/IHCD volunteer. I want to be able to turn round to someone and say, "Yes, I have several certificates in advanced skills and I can fry someone with a Defib when standard CPR doesn't quite work." I also want the legendary red boiler suit that comes with being an ER trained member. It's something I've aspired to since joining the BRC (I don't just mean the boiler suit).

However, this is where my issue comes in; this is when people start to say, "I'm only a first aider." I was told off for saying "I'm just a first aider" at a course one weekend. And it's a point - there is no "just" about it. Just because some people are trained in advanced skills, doesn't mean the one who sticks to thoroughly learning the basics isn't any less skillful than the boy in the red boiler suit with EMERGENCY RESPONSE printed in white on their back. Chances are, the ER bloke will have forgotten the pure and simple basics anyway, because they'll be too focussed on the fancy extras.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Red Cross was set up to deliver first aid to those who need it as soon as possible after the injury happenened. We teach the basics of first aid to the public so that people can help one another in their time of need, without having to hunt high and low for a back-dated first aid manual that's gathering dust on a shelf somewhere, while the casualty is gradually bleeding to death. Ok, an extreme example, but you get my drift; the Red Cross revolves around basic first aid training - it's what is taught and what is learnt, and we've all been a part of those most humble origins.

So, when the New Year's resolution for your local Red Cross is to work hard to advance all our skills, and become highly efficient, emergency-trained, enhanced-first aid maniacs, you begin to wonder if someone has forgotten the true principles of the BRC. I dunno, sometimes basics is better. And as I have been told before, whilst knowing all the fancy advanced namby-pamby is good and a sometimes useful spare skill, to know the basics of first aid, and know it well, is what really matters at the end of the day. After all, you're nae going to be shoving a plastic airway down every casualtie's throat, are you?

Ok, rant closed. Thanks for reading =]