China needs more trained first-aiders to meet the demands of big
events such as the Beijing Olympics, as well as emergencies.
A senior official said on Friday that people's awareness of the
importance of life-saving was quite weak, while their knowledge of
first aid was poor.
Peng Peiyun, president of the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC),
gave the example of Beijing one of the nation's best cities for
first aid training where only 1 in 150 people know first aid.
In some developed countries, the proportion is 1 to 8, Peng
noted at a conference on first aid in China.
Constant effort is needed in the coming two years to reach
targets set for the Olympics.
The goal is for all host cities to have at least one qualified
first-aider in every 80 to 150 residents, said Jiang Yiman, deputy
president of the RCSC.
In 2003 the government promised that by 2008, China will have 1
trained first-aider for every 100 citizens.
The exact number of how many people will be trained in primary
first aid is not yet available. But over the past four years, Red
Cross societies at various levels have trained several million
workers from high-risk industries.
During this period, a total of 4.77 million public security
officers, construction workers, coal miners and transport workers
have received primary training in life-saving practices.
The primary training includes basic life-saving techniques, such
as the emergency removal of a casualty, or how to care for a person
suffering from severe external bleeding, skin burns or a
fracture.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies estimate that tens of millions of lives are saved because
of timely first aid each year.
(China Daily September 9, 2006)