First aid

Driven by evidence,
provided by people.

First aid guidelines

The first aid topics included in the 2020 Guidelines span a wide variety of themes. Those included here were determined based on the availability of scientific evidence and expertise from the field, as well as needs identified by National Societies.

General approach

Hand hygiene

Psychological first aid

De-escalation techniques for violent behaviour

Medication administration

Oxygen administration

Breathing problems

Choking

Breathing difficulties

Asthma attack

Croup

Environmental

Decompression illness

Radiation injuries

Medical conditions

Chest pain

Stroke

Allergic reaction and anaphylaxis

Unresponsiveness

Unresponsive and breathing normally

Unresponsive and abnormal breathing (adolescent and adult)

Unresponsive and abnormal breathing (baby and child)

Unresponsive and abnormal breathing when a defibrillator is available

Unresponsive and abnormal breathing with suspected opioid overdose

First aid guidelines sections

⇒ General approach

⇒ Breathing problems

⇒ Medical conditions

⇒ Mental distress

⇒ Trauma

⇒ Environmental

⇒ Unresponsiveness

⇒ First aid education

⇒ About the guidelines

"To know that the first aid programme of the National Society is in accordance not only to the state or local standards but also to international guidelines makes the Georgia Red Cross Society first aid training more attractive and trustful. "

Tea Chikviladze, MD, First aid coordinator, Georgia Red Cross Society

"The IFRC first aid guidelines are very essential because they bring life into the first aid evidence based approach; linking science and best practice, they give recommendations on contextualization of topics. "

Muhammad Auwal, International master first aid trainer and assessor, former First aid coordinator, Nigerian Red Cross Society, former Regional first aid delegate Southern Africa, Belgian Red Cross Flanders

"Availing these Guidelines through a virtual platform makes us provide real-time first aid care based on principles of equity, effectiveness and efficiency, as well as well as providing a valuable tool for regularly updating our first aid manuals and other materials, aligning to the latest scientific evidence."

Paul Bitex Okot, Emergency operations focal point for Uganda Red Cross Society and International master educator in first aid

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.