First-Aid Skills

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MeritBadge.Org offers resource and video links for Backpacking, Campfire Building, Clothing, Cooking,
Cycling, First Aid, Navigation, Outdoor Skills, Scout skills, Swimming, and Wilderness Survival Skills.

Contents Abrasion (Scrape) AEDs Altitude Sickness Assessing Injury Back Injury Bites Stings Bees Black eye Bleeding Blisters Bloodborne Pathogens Broken Bone Bruise (Contusion) Burns Chest Pain Choking Cold Reactions Convulsion CPR Cramps Cuts (Lacerations) Dehydration Electrical Burns Electrical Shock Eye Injury First-Aid Kit Fishhook Fractures Frostbite Getting Help Head Injury Hearing Loss Heart Attack Heart Disease Heat Exhaustion Heat Reactions Heat Stroke Heimlich Hyperventilation Hypothermia Insect Bites Stings Motion Sickness Muscle Cramps Muscle Strains Nausea-Fainting Neck Injuries Nosebleeds Object in Eye Poisoning Poisonous Animals Poisonous Plants Puncture Wound Rope Burns Scratches Shock Seizure Slings - Splints Snakebite Spinal Injury Splinters Sprained Ankle Sprains-Strains Stopped Breathing Stroke Sunburn Tick Bites Tooth Injury Transporting Triage Wilderness First Aid

“ First aid is the first help given to someone who has had an accident or other health emergency. If more attention is needed, first-aid treatment helps keep an injured or ill person as safe as possible until medical personnel arrive. Wilderness first aid (WFA) is the assessment of and treatment given to an ill or injured person in a remote environment when a physician and/or rapid transport are not readily available. First aid and WFA are important to participants in BSA programs. The BSA strongly recommends that participants avail themselves of CPR with automatic external defibrillator (AED) training, along with first-aid and wilderness first-aid training. For certain program participation, there may be requirements for first aid, wilderness first aid, and CPR/AED. There are no unit-centric requirements at this time. First aid, WFA, CPR/AED may be taught by instructors currently trained by a nationally certified provider such as the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, Emergency Care and Safety Institute, or American Safety and Health Institute. Cub Scouts can even be taught this valuable skill in a family-type setting. Online-only courses are not accepted if a certification is required. The BSA will accept nationally recognized blended courses—such as from the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, Emergency Care and Safety Institute—where competency can be demonstrated to an instructor. Further information and advancement in first aid may include wilderness first responder (WFR) and wilderness emergency medical technician (WEMT). For more information, see the Boy Scout Handbook and the First Aid merit badge pamphlet. ”

— Guide to Safe Scouting (2017), V. Medical Information and First Aid

Here are first-aid resources to aid you in teaching and learning first aid in over 40 ranks and badges.

Resources

The Boy Scout Handbook should be a Scout's initial resource for learning first-aid skills. The First Aid merit badge provides more information and guidance and lists the following first-aid resources

On the Internet

• American Heart Association
• American Medical Association
• American Red Cross
• American Stroke Association
• National Safety Council

Scouting Literature

Handbooks, Manuals, & Guides

• Boy Scout Handbook
• Fieldbook
• BSA® Wilderness First Aid Manual — ScoutShop.org
• Pocket Naturalist® Guide Emergency First Aid Pocket Guide — ScoutShop.org

Merit Badge Pamphlets

Dentistry  •  Emergency Preparedness  •  Fire Safety  •  Lifesaving  •  Medicine  •  Public Health  •  Safety  •  Wilderness Survival

Additional Resources

• Your handbook is your primary reference. See First-Aid Skills for step-by-step instructions and lesson video links.
• See also: First Aid merit badge pamphlet - First-Aid Kit - Emergency Kit - Guide to Safe Scouting - Annual Health & Medical Record
• Mayo Clinic First Aid Index
• Very Well Health - offers a number of first aid articles.
  

► ProFirstAid (PFAVideo) - online first aid (including CPR) courses for free. Pay if you want their certificates.

Disclaimers

Disclaimer: This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, emergency treatment or formal first-aid training. Don't use this information to diagnose or develop a treatment plan for a health problem or disease without consulting a qualified health care provider. If you're in a life-threatening or emergency medical situation, seek medical assistance immediately.

Please note that the only first aid materials recommended by the Boy Scouts of America are those found or listed in official BSA materials such as the current First Aid Merit Badge pamphlet (Order: full pamphlet (Scout Shop); Download: requirements & resources only (Scouting.org)) and Boy Scout Handbook. First-aid skills are constantly being revised. See the Guide to Safe Scouting. Neither MeritBadge.Org, nor its contributors make any recommendations.

• MeritBadge.Org Disclaimer

AED

• WebMD: Automated External Defibrillators (AED)
  

►  Pro First Aid: Adult AED, Practice: Adult AED, Child AED, Practice: Child AED, Infant AED, Practice: Infant AED

Altitude Sickness

• WebMD: Altitude Sickness - Wikipedia: Altitude Sickness - Video: Altitude Sickness Prevention -

Requirement for Camping and Hiking Merit Badges.

Bites and Stings

• Mayo Clinic: Insect bites & stings - Spider bites - Animal bites - AAFP: Stings & Bites - Cat & Dog Bites - Center for Disease Control: Dog Bites - WebMD: Bites & Stings
  

►  EVVideo: Insect Bites & Stings - Treatments - Insect Bites - Brown Recluse Spider Bite - Chiggers - Bee Stings - Bees

Tick Bites

• Mayo Clinic: Tick bites - WebMD: Ticks Treatment - About.com: Tick Removal
  

►  Avoiding Ticks - EVVideo: Removing Ticks

Bleeding

• Mayo Clinic: Bleeding - Harvard: Bleeding - Harvard: Direct Pressure - Harvard: Butterfly Bandage - WebMD: Bleeding - Center for Disease Control: Acute Injury Care

►  Mayo Clinic: Bleeding Video - EVVideo: EVVideo: Bleeding - EVVideo: Bleeding2 - Direct Pressure - Pressure Bandage
►  ProFirstAid: Minor Bleeding - Serious Bleeding - About.com Video: Dress a Wound

• Wikipedia: Tourniquet - Dangerous - you must be very knowledgable but knowledge is requried for First Aid Merit Badge

Blisters

• Mayo Clinic: Blisters - About.com: Blisters- MSN: Blisters
  

►  EVVideo: Avoiding Blisters - Blisters - How to Treat Blisters

Bloodborne Pathogens

• Bloodborne Pathogens
  

►  ProFirstAid: Introduction to Bloodborne Pathogens - What are Bloodborne Pathogens? - How Bloodborne Pathogens are Spread - How to Reduce Your Risk

Broken Bones

Shortcut: Broken Bones - Fractures

• Mayo Clinic: Broken Bones - Harvard: Broken Bones - WebMD: Understanding Fractures
• Mayo Clinic Broken Bone Symptoms & Treatments: Arm - Collarbone - Broken leg - Hand/Wrist/Fingers - Ankle/Foot -
• WebMD Broken Bone Symptoms & Treatments Arm - Collarbone - Finger - Foot - Hand - Leg - Toe

Dislocation

• Mayo Clinic: Dislocation - Shoulder Dislocation (Required for Whitewater Merit Badge.)

Bruises

• Mayo Clinic: Bruises (also called Contusions) - WebMD: Bruises
• Mayo Clinic: Black eye - WebMD: Black Eye - Black Eye (Black eye - a bruise near the eye)

Burns

• Mayo Clinic: Burns - AAFP: Burns - WebMD: Burns
  

►  EVVideo: Burns - Second Degree Burns - Second & Third-Degree Burns - About.com Video: Burn - About.com: Types of Burns Video

See also: Electrical Burns and Rope Burns

Cancer

• American Cancer Society: Signs & Symptoms - Warning Signs - Mayo Clinic: Cancer Defined - Cancer Myths

Chest Pain

• Mayo Clinic: Chest pain - WebMD: Abdominal Pain

Choking

• BSA Video: Tenderfoot Heimlich Maneuver (requires Apple QuickTime)
• WebMD: Choking - Mayo Clinic: Choking (Heimlich maneuver) - Harvard: Choking - Harvard: Heimlich Maneuver - Center for Disease Control: Choking
  

►  EVVideo: First Aid for Choking Victims - PFAVideo: Choking - About.com Video: Heimlich Maneuver

Cold Reactions

Hypothermia

• Mayo Clinic: Hypothermia - AAFP: Hypothermia - WebMD: Hypothermia - About.com: Hypothermia

Frostbite

• Mayo Clinic: Frostbite - WebMD: Frostbite - About.com: Frostbite

►  EVVideo: How to Treat Frostbite - About.com: Stages of Frostbite Video

CPR

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)

“ CPR instruction [in the merit badge program], wherever it is required, must be taught by people currently trained as CPR instructors by a nationally certified provider, such as the American Red Cross, the Emergency Care and Safety Institute, or the American Heart Association. ”

— Guide To Advancement § 7.0.1.1 Qualifications of Counselors.

• BSA Guide to Safe Scouting: First Aid and CPR Training
• CPR Procedures: Mayo Clinic - Harvard Medical School - American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) - WebMD
  

►  Videos: ProFirstAid: Hands-Only CPR - Adult CPR

Cuts - Scrapes

• Mayo Clinic: Cuts and Scrapes (also called Abrasions) - AAFP: Cuts, Scrapes and Stitches - WebMD: Cut
  

►  EVVideo: Cuts (Lacerations) - EVVideo: Abrasions

Dehydration

• Mayo Clinic: Dehydration - Spotting & Preventing Dehydration - Mayo How much water do you need? - WebMD: Dehydration

Electrical Burns - Electrical Shock

• Mayo Clinic: Electrical burns
• Mayo Clinic: Electrical shock

Eye Injury - Object in Eye

• Mayo Clinic: Foreign object in the eye- Harvard: Removing a Speck From the Eye - WebMD: Eye Injury

Getting Help

• About.com: Calling for Help 101 - Be a Good 911 Caller - When Should You Call 911? - How 911 Works

►  EVVideo:Calling 911

Head, Neck, and Back Injuries

Head Injury

• Mayo Clinic: Head pain - Mayo Clinic: Head trauma - AAFP: Head Injuries - WebMD: Head Injuries

Spinal Injuries

• Harvard: Back Injuries - WebMD: Neck & Back Injuries - Mayo Clinic: Spinal injury
  

►  PFAVideo: Head, Neck and Back Injuries

Hearing Loss

• National Institute of Health: Hearing Loss - Mayo Clinic: Hearing Loss - AAFP: Prevent Hearing Loss - About.com: Woodworking Hearing Protection

Heart Attack

• American Heart Association: Heart Attack - Warning Signs -Mayo Clinic: Heart attack - AAFP: Symptoms & Risk Factors - WebMD: Heart Attack

►  EVVideo: What Is a Heart Attack? - Risk Factors - Misconceptions - Signs of a Heart Attack

Heart Disease

• Heart Disease Warning Signs - Warning Signs - AAFP: Avoiding a Heart Attack

Heat Reactions

Heat Exhaustion

• AAFP: Heat-Related Illness - Mayo Clinic: Heat Exhaustion - WebMD: Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke

►  EVVideo: How to Treat Heat Exhaustion

Heat Cramps

• Mayo Clinic: Heat cramps

Heat Stroke

• Mayo Clinic: Heatstroke -

Hyperventilation

• eHow: Hyperventilation - WebMD: Hyperventilation

Nausea - Motion Sickness

• Mayo Clinic: Indigestion-Understand and prevent heartburn, nausea and bloating - WebMD: Nausea
• WebMD: Motion Sickness - Wikipedia - Requirement for Motorboating Merit Badge and Small-Boat Sailing Merit Badge

Fainting

• Mayo Clinic: Fainting - Dizziness - Nausea and Vomiting - Vertigo
  

►  PFAVideo: Fainting

Nosebleeds

• Mayo Clinic: Nosebleeds - Harvard: Nosebleeds - AAFP: Nosebleeds - WebMD: Nosebleeds
  

►  EVVideo: Nose Bleeds - About.com Video: Nosebleeds

Poisoning

• Mayo Clinic: Poisoning - WebMD: Poisoning - About.com: Poisons - Center for Disease Control: Poisoning
• Mayo Clinic: Food-borne illness - About.com: Food Poisoning

Poisonous Plants

• Mayo Clinic: Poison Ivy Rash - WebMD: Poinson Ivy Treatment
  

►  EVVideo: Poison Ivy & Poison Oak - How to Treat Poison Oak, Ivy & Sumac

Puncture Wounds

• Mayo Clinic: Puncture wounds - WebMD: Puncture Wound - Tetanus
  

►  EVVideo: Puncture Wounds

Fishhook

• WebMD: Fishhook Injuries - AAFP Removing a Fishhook - Harvard: Removing a Fishhook

Splinters

• Mayo Clinic: Foreign object in the skin - WebMD: Removing Splinters - About.com: Splinter Removal

Rope Burns

• How to Treat Rope Burn - from http://trails.com

Seizures - Convulsions - Epilepsy

• WebMD: Seizures - About.com: Seizure - MSN: Seizures
  

►  EVVideo: Seizures - PFAVideo: Seizures

• Mayo Clinic: Epilepsy - WebMD: Epilepsy

Shock

Treat every accident victim for shock. -Boy Scout Handbook p. 291

• Mayo Clinic: Shock - WebMD: Shock - MSN: Shock
  

►  PFAVideo: Shock

Slings

• Harvard: Slings
  

►  EVVideo: How to Apply a Shoulder Sling - Slings - More Slings

Snakebite

• Snakebite: Mayo Clinic: Snakebite - AAFP: Snakebite - Avoiding Snakebites - AAFP: Venomous Snakebites - WebMD: Snakebite
  

►  EVVideo: Venomous Snake Bite

Poisonous Animals

►  EVVideo: How to Treat Jellyfish Stings

Splints

• Harvard: Splints

►  EVVideo: How to Tell if Someone Needs a Splint - Injuries Requiring a Splint - Types of Splints - Applying a Splint - How to Use a Pillow as a Splint - How to Position a Splint

Sprains - Strains - Cramps

Shortcut: Sprains - Strains - Cramps

• Mayo Clinic: Sprains - WebMD: Strains - Mayo Clinic: Muscle Cramps
  

►  EVVideo: Strained Muscle

Sprained Ankle

• Mayo Clinic: Sprained Ankle - AAFP: Ankle Sprains

Stopped Breathing

See CPR

• CPR & Resuce Breathing - MSN: Rescue Breathing and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
• About.com: Shortness of Breath

Stroke

• Mayo Clinic: Stroke - American Stroke Association: Stroke - Medicinenet: Stroke - Stroke Awareness Foundation - AAFP: Stroke Warning Signs and Avoiding Stroke
• Warning Signs: American Heart Association: Stroke Warning Signs - Stroke.Org - AAFP: Stroke Symptoms - Stroke Symptoms

►  EVVideo: What Is a Stroke? - How to Identify a Stroke - How to Prevent a Stroke - The Signs of a Stroke

Sunburn

Shortcut: Sunburn

• Mayo Clinic: Sunburn - WebMD: Sunburn - About.com: Sunburn
  

►  EVVideo: Sunburn - EVVideo: Severe Sunburn

Tooth Injury

• WebMD: Tooth Broken or Knocked-out - Mayo Clinic: Tooth loss - Mayo Clinic: Toothache

Transporting an Injured Person

• BSA Video: Transporting the injured (requires Apple QuickTime)
• How to Move an Injured Person
  

►  EVVideo: How to Carry an Injured Person by Yourself

Triage

• Wikipedia: Triage - Center for Disease Control: Field Triage

Wilderness First Aid

►  EVVideo: Assessing Wilderness Emergencies - Medical Emergency - Shock - Triage - Wilderness First Aid

Related Awards

Emergency Preparedness-related awards All Scouts and Scouters Awards: Emergency Preparedness BSA Award Boy Scout merit badges: Backpacking - Camping - Canoeing - Climbing - Cooking - Crime Prevention - Cycling - Dentistry - Electricity - Emergency Preparedness - Fire Safety - First Aid - Hiking - Home Repairs - Kayaking - Lifesaving - Medicine - Motorboating - Nature - Orienteering - Pioneering - Public Health - Radio - Rowing - Safety - Search and Rescue - Signs, Signals, and Codes - Small-Boat Sailing - Snow Sports - Swimming - Traffic Safety - Water Sports - Weather - Wilderness Survival Webelos: Webelos Adventure: First Responder - Webelos-AoL Elective Adventure: Castaway Venturing: Ranger Award-Emergency Preparedness Requirement Unit Awards: BSA Ready & Prepared Award Others Links: First-Aid Skills - First-Aid Kit - Emergency Kit - Safe Swim Defense - Safety Afloat - Guide to Safe Scouting