Lifestyle

6 Reasons Why First Aid Training Is Crucial

Published

5 years ago

June 14, 2021

While it is not a pleasant thought, the truth is that accidents are inevitable, and there is no guarantee that people are safe from injuries, traumas, and illnesses. The best thing you can do is to be prepared on how to handle them when they happen. Basic first aid training can be the difference between life and death. Read on to learn why basic first aid training is necessary.

1. It saves lives

Every day, hundreds of people are hurt or killed because of the lack of a quick and efficient first aid response. Basic first aid training and willingness to help is usually the difference between those who survive and those who don’t in an emergency. Typically, performing basic life support on victims while waiting for medical emergency personnel to arrive doubles their chances of survival. For instance, emergency resuscitation lessons can help you save a life before an ambulance arrives. While it’s common for people to rush to help an injured person, a person with basic first aid training is more confident, reliable, and in control of their actions while responding to a life-threatening situation.

2. Increase victim’s comfort

While not all illnesses, accidents, and injuries require a trip to a medical facility, most of them cause pain and suffering to the patient. A person with basic first aid training may be able to help in such cases. They know what to do to alleviate the pain and discomfort, at least temporarily. They will also be able to provide emotional support, which helps the victim to feel more secure and reduce their anxiety levels.

3. Prevent situations from worsening

Having basic first aid training can help to prevent emergency situations from deteriorating. For instance, if a victim has got a deep gash and bleeding profusely, they may suffer severe loss of blood without proper and prompt first aid response. This is where first aid training comes in handy — knowing simple procedures like applying the right amount of pressure can prevent the situation from worsening. More importantly, it enables you to stabilize the victim until emergency medical personnel arrive.

4. It can help you to convey important information

In the process of responding to an emergency and staying with the victim, you can gather critical information. You know how the victim got injured and their current situation. When the emergency medical team arrives, giving them such details would help them decide on the most appropriate treatment procedure and speed up the recovery process.

5. It promotes healthy living

If you have received basic first aid training, you understand how important it is to prioritize your safety, and by doing that, you are better placed to help victims. It also helps you to be always aware of potential safety and health hazards in your immediate environment.

6. A positive work environment

If you are an employer, having your employees trained on basic first aid is an excellent way to show them you care about their safety, which helps to create a positive work environment.

Endnote

Accidents happen when least expected, and sudden illnesses like stroke, severe loss of blood, and heart attack, require immediate and efficient medical intervention. Basic first aid knowledge can help you save a life, increase the victim’s comfort and prevent a situation from becoming worse.

Lifestyle

Kindness First: Lessons From Ellen DeGeneres

Published

2 hours ago

January 16, 2026

Michelle Langton

The Power of Kindness in a World Divided

Let’s accept that it’s easy to be kind when others share your views. It’s when someone has a very different opinion on a topic that you might explode with anger. In those times, being kind is most challenging and most important.

In today’s world, people are constantly judging one another, arguing with one another, and generally dismissing each other’s ideas without any second thoughts. Families are torn apart over politics. People become enraged over their differences in beliefs surrounding religion. Even small disagreements escalate into full-blown arguments on social media. However, all of that anger and hostility does not help anyone.

Ellen’s Enduring Message

This is why Ellen DeGeneres has maintained her message of kindness throughout her career. Every show ended with her saying “Be kind to one another” — a constant reminder to the world of the importance of being kind to one another every day as a choice.

Ellen has always used her experience to focus on what brings her audience joy and laughter, and helping them feel good about themselves. In helping people feel good about themselves, Ellen demonstrates through her comedy that one does not need to bring down another person to lift themselves up. One can also choose to treat, honour, and respect others, even those they may disagree with.

Why Kindness Matters When We Disagree

When’s the last time that someone has changed your mind by treating you badly? Probably never. Hostile behaviour just shuts people down, puts them on the defensive and builds a wall.

On the other hand, Ellen demonstrates that the opposite of kind behaviour is the opposite. Using contempt places a wall between people that does not exist with kind behaviour, and allows real dialogue to exist. When respect and disagreement co-exist, the other person is told, “I see that you are a human being just like me, and while I do not agree with you, I am open to your perspective and will take your position into consideration. Thanks for being you. Sometimes that is what is needed, and that is all it takes to find common ground.”

Learning and Growing Together

Ellen has been forgiven by much of her audience, with fans choosing to focus on the humor, kindness, and positivity she has brought into the world over decades. While past controversies once clouded her public image, her openness, self-reflection, and continued commitment to spreading joy have allowed many to move past old criticisms. Today, audiences celebrate Ellen not just for her career, but for the larger message she represents—that even public figures can grow, learn, and continue inspiring kindness.

As Ellen reminds us, “Everything bad that’s ever happened to me has taught me compassion.” And isn’t that what kindness is really about? Learning from our struggles and extending that understanding to others. She also said, “It always helps to think about other people instead of ourselves”—words that perfectly capture what it means to choose kindness even when disagreement makes us want to dig in our heels.

The truth is, every small act of kindness adds up. Every time you choose grace over anger, you’re making the world a little bit better.

Kindness Without Compromise

On the other hand, kindness does not mean that you have to defend an opinion, nor that you cannot defend that which you consider right. Furthermore, kindness doesn’t come from letting people walk all over you.

More to the point, kindness is about how we deal with people, not whether we agree with them or not. It is possible to have a strong opinion about something, and be respectful to all. We can advocate for what we think is right, and not be perceived as the bad person. Kindness makes the message we spread much more powerful and people listen to us more.

Putting Kindness Into Practice

What does this mean for you? What does this look like in real life?

Maybe it means having to listen to his probably not-so-valuable political opinions, helping out a neighbor, trying to stop your frustration by not going on a mean comment on someone’s Facebook post.

You might find these things meaningless and not valuable, however, the world needs these ‘small’ random acts of kindness, which, by the way, are contagious.

You are already setting the path for a better and kinder world by disagreeing with people in a polite way and, while to you, the act of kindness might not mean much, to the receiver of the kindness, it would mean to someone a lot.