Community Based First Aid, Water Safety and Mind that Child Programmes

The Fiji Red Cross Society has been delivering Community Based First Aid programmes for over 2 years. The programmes remain very popular and are in high demand from communities.

Approximately 40% of people in Fiji live in rural and remote areas. Access into and out of these areas is severely limited; roads are often non-existent and most people lack appropriate transportation. Travel is also dependant on weather conditions and/or restrictive public transport schedules. Therefore, access to local health centres and district hospitals is severely impinged, particularly in the remote communities of the Northern Division. In the event of an illness or accident, residents of these areas are frequently required to walk for days before they receive medical assistance. These remote communities require valuable life saving techniques to prevent the loss of lives and further injury.

Through Community Based First Aid, people will learn how to treat bleeding, infections, sprains and strains, prevent parasitic infections and much more. The First Aid to be taught can be modified to suit the remote location of its target audience, the age group of the audience and other special requirements.

Through the ‘Save a Life’ Community First Aid programme, people of Fiji will be able to save and sustain lives, share First Aid information to others and be a catalyst for improvement in the health of future generations.

The Community Based First Aid session is a one day course delivered for free.