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Cub Scouts Learn Basic First Aid Skills
Stay Calm! Get Help! Check the Scene! Check the Person! Give First Aid! shouted members of Cub Scout Troop 666 during first aid training provided by the American Red Cross. In a fun-packed hour, the eight Scouts learned basic first aid and safety skills.
"It is most important to stay calm and get help," Red Cross trainer Vicki Osman told the Troop, "but there are a lot of things you can do while you're waiting for help to arrive." Osman, Community Services manager at the Montgomery County Office of the American Red Cross of the National Capital Area, then taught the Scouts several practical skills to use if faced with an emergency.
Members of Troop 666 enthusiastically practiced rescue breathing, techniques demonstrated on Timmy, a child-size manikin with bellowing lungs. Scouts located their body's pressure points to prepare them to stop the flow of blood from a serious wound; practiced Heimlich maneuver abdominal thrusts to dislodge a foreign object in a choking victim; and used their own scout bandannas to fashion a makeshift sling for a broken arm. They also learned ways to respond to animal bites, nose bleeds, electric shock and more.
The American Red Cross is the recognized premier provider of first aid, CPR, aquatics, water safety, HIV/AIDS prevention education, mission-related caregiving and other health and safety education programs. In 2001, nearly 12 million people were enrolled in health and safety courses learning how to keep themselves and their families safer. Programs are developed in collaboration with experts from the fields of medicine and aquatics and reflect the latest information and techniques. All courses are designed to teach the exact skills people need to respond to an emergency. The American Red Cross has provided health and safety services to people for more than 90 years as part of the organization's mission of emergency prevention and preparedness.
For information about basic first aid training and other youth safety programs in your area, contact your local Red Cross Chapter.
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. The Red Cross also supplies nearly half of the nation's lifesaving blood. This, too, is made possible by generous voluntary donations. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. You can make a secure online credit card donation or call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669) or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Or you may send your donation to your local Red Cross or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. To donate blood, please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543), or contact your local Red Cross to find out about upcoming blood drives.
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