Better late than never

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine plans to train high school students and teachers to provide first aid according to international standards. As grotesque as this sounds at the beginning of the fourth year of the war, it is better late than never.

According to the Law of Ukraine “On Emergency Medical Care,” only certain professions can provide first aid, in addition to doctors: rescuers, firefighters, police officers, pharmacists, train conductors, airline and cruise ship cabin crew. Whereas, for example, in the United States, graduates cannot receive a high school diploma unless they pass the so-called Basic Life Support (BLS) test.

BLS is a unified international protocol for providing first aid. There is an estimate that if at least 10% of the population mastered the standards of first aid, the number of wounded and injured people dying and becoming severely disabled would be many times lower.

Someone might say: didn't they teach the basics of life safety at school?

Unfortunately, the course covers everything from the dangers of smoking to the dramatic consequences of premarital sex, but it does not cover wound tamponade or the correct application of tourniquets.

At first glance, the modern school course “Defense of Ukraine” looks more adequate. Except for the fact that only girls are taught first aid. Is it because boys don't seem to need this knowledge? However, the main problem is that in reality there is no one to teach this knowledge at school.

And now, it seems, the ice has broken. The bell rang in the office of the NGO Volunteer-68. It was the head of the Education Department of the Administration of the Kyiv district of Kharkiv. Mr. Chairman voiced the problem. Schools in the Kyiv district lack sufficiently qualified teachers who could teach first aid in detail.

The volunteers' response was immediate

The first twenty-two teachers took an introductory course in Basic Life Support (BLS) at the training center of the NGO "Volunteer - 68".

We are looking forward to welcoming new cadets in the near future.