• Stijn Van de Velde, Paul Broos, Marc Van Bouwelen, Rudy De Win, An Sermon, Johann Verduyckt, André Van Tichelen, Door Lauwaert, Barbara Vantroyen, Christina Tobback, Patrick Van den Steene, Sarmite Villere, Carlos Urkia Mieres, Gabor Göbl, Susanne Schunder, Koenraad Monsieurs, Joost Bierens, Pascal Cassan, Enrico Davoli, Marc Sabbe, Grace Lo, Maaike De Vries, Bert Aertgeerts, and European First Aid Manual Project, Belgian Red Cross-Flanders.
• Training Department, Belgian Red Cross-Flanders, Motstraat 40, 2800 Mechelen, Belgium. stijn.vandevelde@rodekruis.be
• Resuscitation. 2007 Feb 1;72(2):240-51.

AimOur objectives were to determine the most effective, safe, and feasible first aid (FA) techniques and procedures, and to formulate valid recommendations for training. We focussed on emergencies involving few casualties, where emergency medical services or healthcare professionals are not immediately present at the scene, but are available within a short space of time. Due to time and resource constraints, we limited ourselves to safety, emergency removal, psychosocial FA, traumatology, and poisoning. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was not included because guidelines are already available from the European Resuscitation Council (ERC). The FA guidelines are intended to provide guidance to authors of FA handbooks and those responsible for FA programmes. These guidelines, together with the ERC resuscitation guidelines, will be integrated into a European FA Reference Guide and a European FA Manual.MethodsTo create these guidelines we used an evidence-based guideline development process, based on the methodology of the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN).ResultsThe recommendations cover FA for bleeding, wounds, burns, spinal and head trauma, musculoskeletal trauma, and poisoning, as well as safety and psychosocial FA.ConclusionsWhere good evidence was available, we were able to turn science into practice. Where evidence was lacking, the recommendations were consensus-based. These guidelines provide systematically developed recommendations and justifications for the procedures and techniques that should be included in FA manuals and training programmes.

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