First aid lessons aim to improve skills among middle school students
Local health authorities are offering courses on first aid to middle school students in a bid to improve their awareness and capabilities in case of emergencies.
Introduction of ambulance equipment, the proper process of calling an ambulance, CPR skills and how to use an artificial external defibrillator are all demonstrated in the course.
Chinese adults are extremely short of knowledge when it comes to emergency rescue, which has resulted in many people losing the chance to receive adequate first aid treatment in the golden eight minutes. Less than 5 percent of minors in China have received safety education, officials said.
“Education in safety and first aid must be carried out among children and teenagers,” said Zhong Yu from Huangpu District Health Inspection Agency, which teamed up with Shanghai Health Inspection Agency and Shanghai Medical Emergency Center to launch the lessons in local middle schools.
In the United States, people must be equipped with all basic first aid knowledge before 18 years of age and education starts from kindergarten, but China lacks such courses, officials said.
In China, over 500,000 people die of cardiac arrest every year. Research has found that 60 percent of heart arrest cases in public areas can be saved with the use of an AED, which could improve patients’ chances of survival from 12 to 34 percent.
