What's the next step after Red Cross ..........

[Huntindoc]

I would have to agree staying with EMT basic or advanced first aid course. From there if you are going for IV starting and such you will then need to have the medical knowledge of what to put through the IV.

If interested you would then take ACLS (advanced cardiac life support) and ATLS (advanced trauma life support). I don't know if these are offered to non-medical persons as every time I recertify there are only Docs and ER/ICU Nurses there.

You may want to look into the Wilderness Medical Society courses. They can be found online and offer search and rescue with Advanced Trauma first aid treatment that may be available to non-medical persons. Taught by instructors who have "been there, done that" they are fascinating courses that are certified.

As for good samaritan laws, they probably vary from state to state but at least here in Texas they protect physicians as well as non-medical persons provided you don't do something incredibly stupid.

[chuckman]

ACLS? ATLS? Don't put the cart before the horse. Start off with a Red Cross first aid class or an EMT basic course.

There is nothing mystical about treating a GSW. Stop the bleeding. That's it. People make medicine harder than it is....blood goes round and round, air goes in an out, any deviation is a bad thing. Treating any trauma starts with the basics, and that is basic first aid.

[BaileyMoto]

ACLS? ATLS? Don't put the cart before the horse. Start off with a Red Cross first aid class or an EMT basic course.

There is nothing mystical about treating a GSW. Stop the bleeding. That's it. People make medicine harder than it is....blood goes round and round, air goes in an out, any deviation is a bad thing. Treating any trauma starts with the basics, and that is basic first aid.

Pretty much nailed it on the head.

Personally, I feel that unless you are doing it as a profession (medic, nurse, etc), the more advanced courses are going to be a waste of time and money. There is virtually nothing in an ACLS course that a civilian can use (at least not legally). If that sort of medicine interests you that much, perhaps its time to apply to a fire dept and/or get your education ad get a job with an ambulance company.

I work i the industry, but I'm generally the last person to stop and help someone on the side of the road. That's just me, tho.

[Sparky5019]

As a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) I plan to pick up ATLS at some point but I tend to agree that even ACLS is too much for the layman as we all know it is pretty technical and most people can't even remeber basic CPR when confronted with an emergency. BLS is still a step up from "civilian" CPR (I think), so that would be plenty for most non-medical people IMO.

Sparky