First Response: The First Aid Video Series

Safe Community USA, a nonprofit public service program, estimates that in 95% of all emergencies, bystanders or the victims themselves are the first to provide emergency assistance, thus underscoring the need for everyone to acquire basic first aid skills. First Response: The First Aid Video Series is an excellent three-volume set (discount priced at $78.99, or $129.99 w/PPR) that teaches viewers how to recognize and respond to a myriad of injuries until trained medical professionals are able to take over. Volume one, "Bleeding and Soft Tissue Injuries," covers major internal and external bleeding, shock, cuts, bruises, burns, and frostbite. Volume two, "Head & Spinal Injuries, and Muscle, Bone & Joint Injuries," instructs viewers on handling emergency situations related to the injuries mentioned in the title. Volume three, "Medical Conditions and Poisoning," examines asthma attacks, severe allergic reactions, diabetic emergencies, seizures, heat stroke, hypothermia, and treatment for various types of poisoning. In all three entries, basic principles and practices of first aid are reviewed, and instructions are given for conducting primary and secondary assessments, after which viewers are shown emergency situation scenarios and then quizzed, before concluding with an analysis of the correct steps and debunking of common myths (the programs also include a “pause and discuss” section for classroom viewing). An outstanding series that would make an excellent supplement to any first aid curriculum (available in two versions--with American or Canadian Red Cross standards), this is highly recommended. [Note: also newly available is the four-volume First Response series (covering adult choking, child and infant choking, CPR, and heart attack, stroke, and cardiac arrest), as well as the two-volume First Response: The ABCD's of CPR series.] Aud: H, C, P. (L. Stevens)