Red Cross trains for emergencies in the outdoors

The Upper Austrian Red Cross is using outdoor first-aid courses to prepare people for emergencies in forests and mountains, ORF reported. The organisation highlighted the importance of realistic training on World First Aid Day on September 12.

Participants practise responding to unconscious people in forests, serious injuries on rocks and severe bleeding after chainsaw accidents. The exercises take place outdoors rather than in a classroom.

Trainees must assess the situation, make an emergency call and treat injured people. Uneven ground, the distance to the nearest road and unfamiliar surroundings are intended to make the exercises as realistic as possible.

Outdoor courses have run for 15 years

Hermann Aschauer from Ternberg in the Steyr-Land district has led the courses for 15 years. The 63-year-old has been involved with the Red Cross since 1986 and deliberately uses realistic scenarios in the training.

“Talking about an unconscious person in a forest in a classroom is different from actually being confronted with that situation in a forest,” Aschauer said. People who have practised such situations are calmer in an emergency and know better what to do, he said.

The eight-hour courses are open to anyone aged 14 and over. The Red Cross says no prior knowledge is required. Training includes making an emergency call, dealing with acute emergencies and treating wounds until emergency responders arrive.

40,000 people attend courses each year

The Upper Austrian Red Cross says it organises about 2,900 first-aid courses each year, attended by around 40,000 people. More than 1,300 staff work as trainers, teaching paramedics and instructors.

World First Aid Day is intended to remind people that emergencies can happen anywhere, including during hikes, sports, at work or at home. The Red Cross said the important thing was not to know everything perfectly, but to act quickly in an emergency.