2020 International
first aid Guidelines
About the 2020 Guidelines
About the Guidelines
The International first aid, resuscitation, and education guidelines 2020 evaluate and report on the science and good practice behind first aid, resuscitation and education.
Process to develop the guidelines
Find out about the process that was used to develop the Guidelines and learn about the underpinning structure of the topics.
Evidence to action
Access guidance to help you implement the Guidelines. The evidence to action consists of three elements:
About the Guidelines
First aid is part of a common vision: to inspire, encourage, facilitate and promote humanitarian activities by alleviating human suffering and respecting human dignity. We believe everyone has the potential to save lives. First aid education and services are essential tools for achieving these goals. We advocate for first aid to be accessible to all and that at least one person in each household has access to learning first aid regardless of their socioeconomic status or other potentially discriminatory factors.
The Guidelines have been produced with the main goal of fostering harmonisation of first aid practices across the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement by providing a strong evidence-base. This forms a key part of the quality assurance that people receive first aid education in accordance with IFRC international guidelines. These guidelines become the common denominators for the IFRC to establish its International first aid attestation. The International first aid attestation is another priority of the Global First Aid Reference Centre. It is a continuous quality improvement process and recognition, awarded when first aid training provided by a Red Cross Red Crescent National Society is consistent with the latest IFRC International first aid, resuscitation and education guidelines.
The Guidelines do not replace first aid manuals and associated educational materials. Instead, they serve as the foundation resources for first aid programme designers to develop their first aid materials such as manuals, programmes, courses, learning apps, digital products, public information, and associated educational materials. National Societies should use and adapt the Guidelines according to their local cultural, linguistic, technological, environmental and legal contexts, including the local prevalence of injuries and illnesses. The adaptation must also consider the populations’ capacities and available resources. In addition, the Guidelines provide scientific evidence for first aid programme managers and designers to make strategic decisions.
First aid education
Through engaging with first aid education and the fundamental principles of the IFRC, we reinforce values
of humanity by giving people skills, confidence and willingness to help. It is the role of the Movement to champion first aid education as a universal means to help people engage in more helping behaviours and to live more safely, be more resilient, and provide care when needed.
The Movement views first aid as one of the greatest humanitarian acts for which first aid education has an integral part in building personal and communal resilience. As such, it is the duty of the Movement to advocate for and provide effective first aid education that is of the highest quality, affordable, and accessible to everyone.
The Movement’s effectiveness will be magnified if first aid actions are recognised and encouraged by healthcare professionals. Embedding first aid education into national health policies and culture, both as a life skill that is learned by all, and a resilience and emergency response tool that is recognised as a vital part of health systems is an important role for the Movement. The Guidelines promote evidence-based practice as the foundation for first aid education by ensuring that the best available scientific evidence is combined with the preferences and resources of the target group and practical experience and expertise of experts in the field.
Link to IFRC’s Strategy 2030
First aid is central to the five global challenges identified in the IFRC’s 2030 strategy:
- Climate and environmental crises: first aid as a resilience enabler allows communities to prepare for and respond to local climate-related emergencies.
- Evolving crises and disasters: first aid education develops communities’ capacity to respond, aiming for first aid for all and having at least one person trained in first aid per household.
- Growing gaps in health and wellbeing: first aid empowers communities in prevention, health promotion and psychological first aid according to common injuries and health priorities.
- Migration and identity: first aid facilitates the inclusion of vulnerable people and migrants to learn first aid and save lives, regardless of their situation.
- Values, power and inclusion: first aid is an act of humanity, showing a willingness to save lives without discrimination.
The Guidelines provide us with evidence and good practice in first aid knowledge, treatment and education to achieve what is set out in the IFRC 2030 Strategy. By promoting and using proven first aid techniques to address key emergency-related injuries, we can build local communities’ preparedness and response capacity.
Where do the Guidelines fit in IFRC’s first aid policy?
In the IFRC’s first aid policy, it states that the IFRC supports National Societies and participates in the development of harmonised first aid techniques in accordance with scientific research, international standards, good practice guidelines and measures of quality services. National Societies should develop their first aid education and services using the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines and best practice.
To support the policy implementation, the IFRC has set up alliances with scientific bodies, public health experts and pedagogical specialists in first aid and emergency response. As a result, the International first aid, resuscitation, and education guidelines were first produced in 2011, then reviewed and enhanced in 2016, and again in 2020.
In the 32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent 2015, a resolution was passed on the legal aspects of first aid. It encourages States to consider all necessary steps to encourage the first aid provision by laypeople with appropriate training, including, where appropriate, establishing protection from liability for their good faith efforts and ensuring that they are aware of this protection. In order to collectively advocate for this legal protection, the Guidelines are essential for the Movement to ensure its training and services are good quality and based on the evidence-based, international Consensus on Science.
A distinction is made between harmonisation and standardisation. The intention is not to have one technique for each situation, but rather to have a consensus on minimum agreed principles. This consensus is based on a critical review of the available evidence and information learned from the experiences of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement.
Future development
These Guidelines are not exhaustive. For this edition, topics requested by National Societies and others thought to be current and relevant have been included. First aid topics that were not reviewed have not been included here. National Societies should inform the Reference Centre if there are topics for which they need an evidence-base. The evidence-based network will consider these requests for future work.
Become an evidence reviewer
Join the team of clinical, education and scientific experts from around the world to consider scientific evidence and produce recommendations.
Get involved in research
Help fill the gaps in our evidence-base by publishing research studies. See our list of evidence gaps and useful links to support.
Explore the guidelines
Published: 15 February 2021
First aid
Explore the first aid recommendations for more than 50 common illnesses and injuries. You’ll also find techniques for first aid providers and educators on topics such as assessing the scene and good hand hygiene.
First aid education
Choose from a selection of some common first aid education contexts and modalities. There are also some education strategy essentials to provide the theory behind our education approach.
About the guidelines
Here you can find out about the process for developing these Guidelines, and access some tools to help you implement them locally.