Home Nursing and First Aid Instruction For Women
Miss Marion L. Oliver,
In Charge of Organization of Classes.
Believing that the physical welfare of the race depends largely upon home conditions and that the women of the nation have a very definite responsibility in maintaining the health of the family, the American Red Cross has undertaken to organize on a national scale classes for women in home nursing and first aid. It is hoped that this instruction will make them better home makers, better mothers and better citizens. Before describing what has been accomplished in this direction, it is best to give details of the plan adopted. This can be done most briefly by quoting from the official circular relating to the same.
Plan of Instruction for Women.
The American Red Cross has decided to organize classes of instruction for women in first aid, home nursing, hygiene and allied subjects, to be given under the supervision of the National Committee on Red Cross Nursing Service.
Objects.
1. To afford women the opportunity to learn first aid to the injured, and to provide simple instruction in the home care of the sick.
2. To afford women the opportunity to learn how to prepare food for sick and well.
3. To afford women the opportunity to learn how to prepare rooms and other places for the reception of ill and injured.
4. To afford women the opportunity to learn how to protect their own health and that of their families.
It must be distinctly understood that this course of instruction for women is only intended to prepare them to render emergency assistance in case of accident, to give more intelligent care to their own families under competent direction, and, in exceptional cases, to assist in relief work under the supervision of the Nursing Service of the American Red Cross.
Need.
Much needless suffering is now caused the ill and injured on account of the ignorance of unskilled persons. It has been said that the fate of the injured is dependent on the care which their injuries first receive. It is therefore necessary for everybody to learn what to do first in an emergency, and what not to do. This is easy to learn, but the subject must be learned. Nobody can be expected to know this without instruction. The number of people injured in the United States is rapidly mounting and is now in the hundreds of thousands annually. Knowledge of first aid to the injured cannot, it is true, prevent the consequent suffering entirely, but it can be made an important factor in this result.
The health of the family depends largely upon the home maker, and it is most essential that she have a definite knowledge of personal and household hygiene and the proper preparation of food. Special diet for the sick is no less essential. Scarcely any woman is unacquainted with the sick room in her own family, and some simple instruction in the care of the sick should be a part of every woman’s education.
It is the purpose of the Red Cross to provide for this instruction.
Results.
This work is just being started in this country, so that great results cannot yet be reported. It has already been demonstrated here, however, that instruction in first aid will reduce deaths and serious results from injuries about one-half. On railroads and everywhere else that the American Red Cross has carried first aid instruction, all interested are enthusiastic in praise of the benefits derived. In other countries, such as Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia, work of a similar character to that contemplated for women has been done for many years and all testimony goes to show that the public has largely benefited therefrom.
Course of Instruction.
Ten lessons in First Aid.
Fifteen lessons in Hygiene and Home Nursing.
Fifteen lessons in Dietetics and Household Economy.
All instruction will be very practical and pupils will, as far as possible, be required actually to do everything described in the teaching. Lessons in either First Aid or Home Nursing may be given first, but both these courses of lessons must be completed and certificates must be held in both by those desiring to take further instruction.
No two courses of instruction may be taken at the same time.
All first aid courses must be given by a physician and other instructions by a Red Cross nurse, unless otherwise authorized by the Red Cross.
Organization of Classes.
Women desiring to form a class in either first aid or home nursing should secure a sufficient number of names—not less than ten or more than twenty-five—selecting one to act as president. The president so selected should then communicate with the Department of Instruction for Women, American Red Cross, Washington, D. C. A roll will be supplied on which the names of the members of the class will be inscribed and answers given in respect to certain essentials.
No one under sixteen years of age is eligible for these classes.
It will be necessary locally to obtain the services of a physician or a nurse to give the instruction, whose name and address should be forwarded to Washington with required roll of proposed class. All instructions must be approved, and a card of authorization issued, by the Red Cross before any course is begun.
The instructors’ fees, if any, must be paid locally, and arrangements for the same must be made by the class with the instructor selected.
It will also be necessary to provide a meeting place.
Books and charts will be supplied by the Red Cross. The cost of these will be $1 per member for each course of ten lessons, and $1.50 per member for each course of fifteen lessons. Payment for the same should be made in advance. The president will be responsible for collecting and forwarding this amount to Washington.
Examinations and Certificates.
On the completion of each course of instruction an examiner will be appointed, to be paid by the Red Cross. Such examiner will be other than the instructor of the class.
No one will be allowed to take an examination in any course who has not attended at least three-fourths of the lessons of that course.
Certificates will be given successful candidates at the conclusion of each course of instruction.
After fulfilling the requirements for the organization of a class and the instructor has been formally appointed the class is free to begin work, and very interesting work it proves to be. The course of instruction in first aid begins with an introductory lesson in anatomy and physiology followed by nine lessons with practical demonstration in the care of emergencies and accidents most likely to be met with in the every-day walks of life. It is most desirable that each pupil be given an opportunity to practice on a model or manikin the various points covered in the lessons. After the ten lessons are over, those members of a class who have not been absent more than three times, are ready for examination. This is given by a physician other than the instructor of the class who is appointed direct from the first aid office. The examination is one-third oral, one-third written and one-third practical.
There are fifteen lessons in the Home Nursing course, and these should prove of absorbing interest and practical value to every one. The preliminary lessons deal with matters relating to the healthfulness of the home, such as contamination of food and its prevention, sources of impurities in water and air, personal hygiene and the preservation of health. Then follows simple instruction in the home care of the sick, how to make a sick bed, to transfer a patient from bed to chair, the general care of a patient, including baths and the use of ordinary sickroom appliances. For example, the theory of bed-making was being taught in one of our classes the other day, and after the instructing nurse had finished her lecture, every member of the class had to make the bed with and without the patient, the patient in this case being a life-sized doll covered with oilcloth so that it could be bathed. Several members of the class did not make the beds satisfactorily and were told to practice at home so that at the next lesson they could do better. A special examination also follows this course.
After those Home Nursing lessons are over, it is planned to have a series of lectures on home economics and dietetics.
So much for the plans and organization, now for the actual classes. The records show that on March 30th almost six hundred women are taking this instruction.
Twenty-four classes in First Aid and three in Home Nursing have been formed in different localities. Both the Young Women’s Christian Association and the Girls’ Friendly Society have become interested in this work.
In Genesee, New York, the fox-hunting community has formed a large class for women to teach them to cope with the accidents of the hunting field.
In Manchester, Connecticut, where the Cheney Brothers have their big silk mills, classes in both First Aid and Home Nursing have been organized among the employes.
In Cincinnati a group of society women are taking the First Aid course.
In one of the suburbs of Washington, a group of young mothers have formed a class.
Other classes are active in Lexington, Ky., Providence, R. I., Detroit, Mich., North Attleboro, Milton and Manchester, Mass., Milwaukee, Wis., York, Pa., Philadelphia, Pa., and Washington, D. C.
Two classes have been formed by the wives of the officers of the Army and the Navy, and we hope that in time every Army post and Naval stations will have its regular classes in First Aid and Home Nursing, and that this work will not only be for the officers’ wives but for the wives of the enlisted men as well.
Al the end of each set of classes there is an examination and those who successfully pass receive a Red Cross certificate.
It is also planned that a field day will be held in each State that has enough classes to warrant it and at this field day First Aid teams of women will compete for a Bronze Medal. The rules for such a competition will be supplied upon request.
