Upskilling in first aid is an important life skill. According to St John’s Ambulance, around 140,000 people die in the UK from incidents that first aid could have potentially helped in.
The British Heart Foundation also released stats that showed 43% of UK adults (nearly half) have never learnt CPR, showing how important this form of healthcare is to teach people.
What Falls Under First Aid?
The term ‘first aid’ can be used to describe a number of things. Including cuts, scrapes, cand scratches, as well as more severe incidents like CPR, bleeding, anaphylaxis and c.
Whilst many professions do upskill their staff in first aid, the huge numbers of UK adults who have never trained in it before show a real gap in the system.
Luckily, a number of companies, startups and apps exist to help spread the word and improve the effectiveness of first aid, these include:
Online First Aid
It can be hard to find local first-aid courses, but onlinefirstaid makes it more accessible than ever before. The company has a series of courses, accessible online, that are designed for a variety of situations,
For example, there are courses relevant to families, work places like kitchens and construction sites and teachers and child care providers. This segregation of courses mean people can access the most useful skills for them, allowing them to upskill in care that they are most likely to come up against.
Frock Safety
First aid can be incredibly important, but it’s usually an in between before professionals come to help. Frock safety is a drone company that is able to respond to calls faster than average responders.
This not only helps people access emergency help faster, it also helps deploy help without necessarily needing human intervention, releasing the time of medical professionals.
First Aid by British Red Cross
Not necessarily a startup, but definitely a useful resource, the British Red Cross first aid app is a free resource that provides videos, quizzes and step-by-step advice for emergency situations.
Whilst it’s definitely better to do a first aid course, the app is great for helping with emergency situations if you don’t know what to do.
Wingcopter
Wingcopter is a long-range drone that is able to be quickly deployed to remote areas that might need emergency care.
Recently used to transport blood, it’s a great way to transport care to people quickly, allowing them to respond. Particularly good for island nations or rural areas, Wingcopter is certainly challenging what traditional first-aid ambulance care could look like.
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Respirana
One of the main areas of first aid is respiration help, and respirana’s VentPAL can be used in case of emergencies.
More for care professionals than first aiders, it eliminates the need for manual bagging, naturally helping a patient breathe.
Whilst the device is more for hospital use, it’s certainly a great tool for any healthcare professional looking to respond in a time critical situation.
KeriCure
KeriCure is a advanced wound spray that aids healing and prevents any infections quickly. Easily sprayed on a wound, it coats it in nano polymer technology and allows the wound to breathe and heal, without letting in infections.
This spray is particularly useful for first-aiders in places like kitchens or construction sites, where workers are more prone to open wounds.
Dualgood
First aid training can help you prepare for the worst, but reacting to situations under pressure is much more difficult.
Dualgood works by using VR to simulate first aid situations, upskilling people by replicating real-life situations. The company uses oculus technology to create more immersive first-aid training, helping prepare people for situations that they are likely to come up against.
Archer FS
Another drone company, Archer is able to respond to emergency situations within 2.5 minutes.
Covering over 35 square miles, the company is able to deliver things like epipens, blood and other life-saving equipment within minutes, aiding people in first aid situations.
With over 7,000 people currently under its protection in the US, it is already changing how people can respond to emergency situations.
Wearin
Wearin is a tech company designed to help first responders make better decisions by providing them with real-time insights.
The company uses their technology to connect field teams with decision makers – who are able to see important data to help drive decisions. This not only helps them make better choices on the ground, but also improves outcomes in difficult situations.
Compact Medical
Compact medical has created a device to make CPR safer. As traditional CPR devices, which include a bag-valve-mask, can cause hyperventilation, their device monitors airflow better, making it safer.
By helping first responders provide the right amount of oxygen to patients, it improves chances of success when it comes to CPR situations.