The History of First Aid Training

First aid training carries with it a long and intriguing history. The true origins of first aid are heavily contested, with many academics and historians crossing swords over the matter. Despite this, we can easily trace some first aid activities back through time to construct a basic, summarised history of emergency care tactics. When contrasted with the advanced methods taught in EMCARE’s very own first aid courses, the practices of yesteryear may come across as archaic.

Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that progress has its place, and we owe great thanks to the innovative carers of the past. So without further ado, keep reading to discover the fascinating history of first aid training.

First Aid Training — Defined

First aid is usually defined as the assistance given to someone experiencing a sudden illness or injury. We tend to mistakenly view it as a modern innovation. After all, most workplaces and school facilities automatically take on first aid training to make provisions for accidents and emergencies.

It’s not uncommon for individuals to take part in first aid courses, such as those offered by EMCARE, for personal assurance or to bolster their CVs, either. Despite the prevalence of the practise today, less and less thought goes into the early origins of first aid. That’s about to change!

First Aid Training in Ancient Egypt and Greece

Various studies of early civilisations have yielded interesting results where the matter of first aid and first aid training are concerned. For example, scholars have alleged that ancient Egyptians may have been responsible for making use of the healing and protective qualities of bandages to treat wounds. A famous Egyptian official, Imhotep, was one of the first documented ‘physicians’, who was said to utilise bandages in their work.

Naturally, one cannot think of bandages in an Egyptian context without mummies coming to mind. Comically, much more is known about the use of bandages for mummies than is known about their use in treating wounds. The Greeks, who had been living amongst the Egyptians during this period, returned home with interesting medical lessons to share.

In Greek pottery, there is an array of depictions detailing the different bandaging techniques used during historical battles. It’s unheard of to speak of first aid in a Greek context without mentioning the ‘father of modern medicine’, Hippocrates, at least once. This Greek figure is famous for his educational first aid books (more than 70) in which diseases and their treatments are described in a very scientific manner. Even more impressive than the hundreds of treatment styles mentioned was the fact that Hippocrates lived about 2400 years ago.

First Aid Training in the Roman Army

As time ploughed on, and civilisations evolved, more advanced first aid techniques were invented. None, however, were more advanced for their time than those of the Romans. In this period, battles were raging fiercely across the European continent. Wounds, injury, and death were inevitable and daily occurrences. The Romans had to think up a way to protect their armed legions.

They did so in an interesting manner. They made use of makeshift ambulances and surgeons as well as field hospitals. Naturally, more senior medics were in charge of tutoring new and emerging medical practitioners (in a more relaxed setting than the first aid courses you’ll participate in in this day and age, thankfully). You'll agree that there are better ways to learn about emergency amputation than on your first day of work.]

Note that the abovementioned conventions (ambulances and field hospitals) are still methods we utilise in modern warfare today — yet significantly more advanced. Regardless, we have our Roman predecessors to thank for these techniques that have endured the test of time.

Medieval First Aid

There is a large proportion of historians and academics who argue that first aid was discovered only in the 11th century. It allegedly came in the form of religious ‘knights’ providing first aid to pilgrims and other knights. These individuals had been carefully trained to treat fighters and innocents when they endured battle wounds in times of war. It is said that a few years after the religious knights established first aid, the four nations met in Geneva to form the Red Cross organisation.

It should come as no surprise that war has a huge part to play in advancing first aid. For example, across the world, years later, the American Civil War influenced a certain Clara Burton to form the American Red Cross. At this time, the aims of first aid were really fleshed out. First aid was enacted to ‘preserve life by minimising the threat of death, to prevent further harm than what was already caused, and to promote recovery’.

First aid in Napoleon's Ambulance Corps

Going back a few hundred years, we find ourselves in the time of the famed Napoleon— a French military and political figure. If there were such a thing as an early first aid hall of fame in this period, an individual by the name of Dominique Jean Larrey would likely have been given the largest and most prominent exhibition. Dominique stood next to Napoleon as his right-hand man. Despite the efforts of medieval knights, many are quick to label Dominique as the first major military surgeon.

However, it is not simply his surgical techniques that earned him this honour. It’s more likely the creation of an established ambulance corps that placed him in the hall of fame. At its peak, the corps was around 340 units strong, and comprised of a fascinating network of carriages, stretcher barriers, and thoroughly-trained field surgeons. Allegedly, men were carried off the battlefield and then treated in record time.

The success of this French endeavour was noted by the British, who then adopted the system to use in their own right. But this was just the beginning. As the turning point in first aid, the practise would take on a whole new meaning from this period onwards.

First Aid in Africa

It’s as good a time as any to mention that, across the way in Africa, way before the day that the first coloniser stepped foot on the African continent, first aid was established here in its own right. It just goes by another name – traditional medicine. The term encompassed a range of disciplines, including indigenous herbalism and African spirituality. In communities, practitioners such as midwives and herbalists provided care and training.

It is believed by some that practitioners of traditional medicine were able to treat or cure a variety of different conditions, including cholera, cancer, psychiatric disorders, and high blood pressure. In addition, venereal diseases like epilepsy, asthma, eczema, and fever were amongst other treatable conditions – although they were certainly not all named such in that day and age.

First Aid to Combat Drowning

The 18th century was a period of scientific development, expedition, and revolution. At this time, a large number of Amsterdam citizens were drowning in the city’s extensive and ever-growing network of canals. In an attempt to resolve the issue, an academic named William Hawkes decided to create a society for the preservation of life from water accidents in 1767.

During this time, his work focused on first aid training in the form of resuscitation techniques. Soon after its formation, the society began to save lives within the city. These first aid techniques have been adopted on a global scale, and are still in use today. It’s standard procedure for children in elementary schools to learn the basics of resuscitation, such is the power of the technique to save lives even when it seems like all hope is lost.

First Aid Training to use the Esmarch Bandage

In the late 1800s, a certain Friedrich von Esmarch created and began distributing the ‘Esmarch’ bandage during the Franco-Prussian war. The bandage in question could be tied in 32 different ways across and around the body to aid injured soldiers. Esmarch was quick to share these techniques in first aid classes, and the methods are still loosely followed by medical carers today.

First Aid Training in the British Army

At the beginning of the 1900s, a British surgeon by the name of Major Peter Shepherd discovered the wondrous Esmarch bandage. He adopted similar teachings and went on to treat British soldiers who had been injured during a conflict. In later years, he took it upon himself to give some of the first lectures on first aid training to members of the public in London.

This occurrence stands out as a major turning point in the history of first aid. The essential practise was expanding from the battlefield and into the hands of the general public. Quickly, word spread, and soon these teachings were accepted and adopted across the British empire.

The Invention of the First Aid Kit

First aid kits are something that we take for granted. They are always (hopefully) around, no matter where you go throughout daily life. This was not always the case. The origins of the first aid kit are incredibly interesting, and cannot go unmentioned. This story begins in the American West in the early 1900s, among the first railroad tracks of the time.

The construction of the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. After this success, more and more workers were brought to isolated regions in the ‘wild west’, far away from hospitals and traditional medical care. The years that followed saw the construction of more than 70,000 miles of new tracks. Naturally, in such a rush to build in rural areas, accidents were common, and more often than not, fatal. Around 12,000 railroad workers and operators died every year.

The absence of educated first responders and antiseptic first aid supplies meant that most injured workers died before reaching any formal kind of care. Sadly, untrained workers knew next to nothing about basic hygiene or wound care, so when they rushed to help their colleagues, they usually did more harm than good. Spinal injuries were typically made worse due to rough examinations, and infections were introduced from unclean hands trying to tend to wounds. Upon hearing about this dilemma, Robert Wood Johnson of Johnson & Johnson had the idea of packaging the company’s sterile surgical products into boxes that could be stored away to be used in the event of an emergency.

The initial first aid kits were packed in wooden or metal boxes. They contained a variety of company products, such as adhesive plasters, gauze, bandages, dressings, and sutures. However, company leads knew that simply sending a box of sterilised supplies was not enough. People needed to know how to use them. First aid training was required.

The opportunity became obvious, and in 1901, Johnson & Johnson published the ‘Hand Book of First Aid', the first of its kind in the nation. The first aid guide went further than covering railroad incidents, though. It also addressed basic hygiene and emergency care for the general public. A decade later, it was a legal requirement for American workplaces (with more than 3 employees) to have a basic first aid kit. This law has remained and is in place around the globe.

EMCARE’s First Aid Training

As you now know, first aid training has a long and complex history. We’ve barely even scratched the surface. It’s not difficult to understand why so much emphasis is placed on the practise today. The training can literally mean the difference between life and death. You don’t need to have any particular interest in the medical or healthcare world in order to take part in one of EMCARE’s comprehensive first aid courses. So, the next time you’re attaching a bandage to a body part, or learning about resuscitation, think about the humble origins of these practices, and how it was individuals and regular people who were responsible for contributing so extensively to life-saving healthcare.