Technically speaking I’m currently certified. But since I never ever use it or have had to use it, technique doesn’t tend to come back to me easily. A few hours training every few years doesn’t tend to sink in all that well with me. I’m good 15 minutes after a class, I guess 
. And certain things I might do fine with, maybe. Maybe. But I’m not the guy you’d prefer to have on hand in an emergency unless someone else was around to yell prompts in my ear.
. . . or suspected hypothermia, better safe than sorry.
I have over fifteen years of experience as an emergency doctor. I think first aid should be a required topic in secondary schools - that knowing CPR, how to measure pulse and use a defibrillator, how to slow bleeding, how to splint a limb, etc. should be formally taught. The most important thing may be to call for qualified help - but when not immediately available some degree of knowledge saves lives. It saves lives.
For those who know the modest outcomes of out of hospital CPR (and adding breathing does help some) know also that in hospital CPR would not have helped in many of these cases (but adding defibrillation would save more). The reality is I have seen hundreds of lives saved largely by CPR and basic first aid techniques.
I can remember most of my Boy Scout training. A great deal of first aid training consists in knowing what not to do, since a lot of things that people would do are actually harmful. And in a lot of situations, the best thing it’s possible to do, without specialized equipment or medicines that you don’t have, is to just do nothing, aside from watching the situation so you can give the pros as much information as possible when they arrive. So if you don’t know first aid and your find yourself in an emergency situation, your job is to be the person who calls 911. Or one of the people; it doesn’t hurt anything if everyone is that person.
For CPR and use of an AED specifically, my training is a few years out of date. I’d still attempt it if the situation were appropriate and there were nobody more knowledgeable on the scene (AEDs are designed to be used by minimally-trained bystanders), but I’d gladly defer to anyone more knowledgeable.
Of course, the vast majority of first-aid situations aren’t severe (a minor bleeding wound, say, or a blister), and can be handled with minimal difficulty and stress.
Most AEDs walk you through what to do. They’re actually easier to use than to supply CPR.
One problem I have is the first aid I was taught in High School and the Navy is often very outdated now. The 80s were a long time ago. But some of the lessons get jumbled up in my mind which is why I would prefer to consult the Web or a recent first aid book/guide.
Yeah. Mine is 35 years old from when I was on a Search and Rescue group. Performed CPR on my cousin in law to no avail. He was dead when he hit the ground.
Like others, I was once certified in first aid and CPR, but it was many years ago. I also used to know how to do pole-top rescue as an electrician in the Navy. Nowadays I’m lucky to be able to apply a band-aid properly. I do carry a first aid kit in the car along with blankets, etc.
It’s been ten years since my Wilderness First Aid class training, but as others have said, it was really informative. Thankfully I’ve never had to use it, except for some tweezer usage and applying mole skin; my scouts probably are glad I never had to use it either. It made me shake my head whenever a movie or TV show has someone pull an arrow out of a wound - don’t do that!
I think I can handle an emergency, keeping in mind call 911 before anything else (or have an onlooker call). And know if and where AED stations are!
On one hand, basics tend to change less than you think over time. The Romans were able to apply plastered cloth to set broken bones. Professionals need to know the latest medicine, but CPR changes just a little every decade - current trends involve things like deeper compressions, etc. but the older techniques might still save lives. Bigger changes are things like AEDs mediated by technology.
Courses are good and should be encouraged. Things like defibrillators offer directions. The mindset that someone should not try to use first aid because they do not have an up to date course should be discouraged.
Medical courses in general sometimes overemphasize macho, “Hail Mary” techniques like pericardiocentesis etc. which would be really much better off done under ultrasound guidance if needed.
I’d heard it as two people surrounding the victim. Double the warmth so a higher probability of a positive outcome, I’m guessing.
I had been certified in first aid for many years but let it expire about 10 years ago as it was not required by my employer.
I was able to do the Heimlich maneuver successfully on two people during my lifetime.
I witnessed one of my aunts perform the same on a family member many years ago.
Last year while eating out on vacation in Denver my cousin started choking. Before I could even get up to assist our waiter was able to intervene successfully with the Heimlich maneuver.
I have witnessed some bloody interventions by family members with on the spot tourniquets and pressure until help could arrive.
Had to remove two foreign objects from my son’s nose when he was about 4. Thankfully he remained still and I was patient.
I have found I respond fairly calmly in emergencies.
I would hope that some of my accumulated knowledge would be accessible should it be needed.
Explicit training in first aid probably dates back to Boy Scouts in 06? Have a coaching “care and prevention of athletic injuries” from 2011 (The thing I most retain is taping ankles). Believe my CPR/AED certification was last done in 2016, so it’s expired. And then annual online coaching refreshers in heat illness, sudden cardiac arrest, and concussions.
In the last week of school I had a kid in class have a seizure, which I handled correctly (though I didn’t quite calibrate my “go get help from next door” to a student quite right. Toned it down to avoid panic (successfully!), but didn’t give enough oomph to get her here ASAP.
Like many in this thread, I learned first aid in the military, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had a refresher.
One difference is that unlike most people here, I seem to have learned relatively little about hypothermia, and quite a lot about dehydration and heat stroke.
I have active CPR/Basic Life Support certification. I’ve used it multiple times at work but never in the wild.
Up until a few years ago I was PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) certified, but I let that one go for a variety of reasons.
mmm
I just got American Red Cross certified in adult first aid/CPR/AED a couple of weeks ago (on 5/22). I guess technically it was recertification, because I was certified 20-25 years ago. The CPR compressions-to-rescue-breaths ratio has changed, but mostly the basics remain the same. Still, I’m glad to have a fresh certification and more of a leg to stand on regarding Good Samaritan Law protection, if ever needed. And the last time I was certified there were no AEDs, so I’m happy to have gotten some exposure to them (the AEDs do tell you what to to, but I figure having some familiarity up front is better than never having touched one when there’s a need and my adrenaline is up).
I’ll be serving as an election officer on Tuesday (Virginia’s Democratic primary day), and I completed that training early last month. It got me thinking about my past volunteer work, which includes a stint with the American Red Cross — and it occurred to me that it might not be a bad idea for an election officer to brush up on their first aid/CPR.
Anyway, I’m good in emergencies. I’d rather have the training and be able to help if needed.