How to Take Your First Aid Skills to the Next Level

Basic first aid is a highly valuable skill that can save lives and make you an asset to any team. However, if you’re looking to really master first aid and save lives, you’ll need an expert to help you hone your skills.

Imagine somebody very close to you suffering the unthinkable, and you are unable to assist in their recovery and, in some cases, their life because you were unsure of how to perform basic first aid. 

The following blog outlines everything you need to know about how to increase your ability in practising first aid and how to be prepared to act fast in the event of an emergency. 

Master The Basics

Before taking steps to learn next-level first aid skills, it’s important to master the basics. Basic first aid knowledge includes understanding how to deal with:

• CPR
• Choking
• Seizures
• Heart attacks
• Broken bones
• Bleeding wounds

Once you know how to deal with this, you should be able to help people in a wide range of situations, but just knowing this doesn’t truly prepare you for real-life situations.

At ATR, we offer scenario-based training sessions to help you learn how to act and process real-life situations such as car crashes, physical attacks, loss of limbs and much more. 

Practice Mental Preparedness

To be an expert in first aid, you’ll need to be mentally prepared. Mental preparedness means being cognizant of your surroundings and situation and staying calm no matter what. 

To save lives in emergencies, you need to know exactly what to do and be confident in doing so - this is something that can only be achieved through real-world experience, such as through HEAT (Hostile Environment Awareness Training) with Advanced Tactical Resources.

Acting appropriately in a controlled training session which offers a realistic scenario will teach you not only how you would truly react to this situation but also how to override the initial panic you feel and act accordingly. 

Take Specialized First Aid Courses (Consider a Trauma First Aid Course)

To become a specialist in providing first aid, you’ll need to take a specialised first aid course – this will teach you how to deal with serious trauma and help keep victims safe and alive before paramedics can arrive to the scene.

Trauma first aid courses with ATR will help you stay calm and deal with stressful, high-intensity situations. Whilst you may already understand the basics of first aid, keeping your cool in a hostile situation is challenging for anyone, that’s why the skills learnt in HEAT and trauma first aid training are so vital.

How Trauma Can Occur in Hostile Environments

Hostile environments refer to anywhere which has a significant danger to life or may cause severe injury to those involved. Understanding how to be aware of a hostile environment and how to keep safe when in one is just as important as first-aid skills – prevention is ALWAYS best, so if you can take steps to avoid a dangerous situation from occurring in the first place, you should always do so.