In compliance with the International Law, Constitution of the Russian Federation and Federal Law No 323 of 21.11.2011 (as amended on 02.07.2021) “On Fundamental Healthcare Principles in the Russian Federation”, everyone is eligible for healthcare and medical treatment. These rights are especially important in emergency situations taking place in times of peace or war.
In case of accidents, technological and natural disasters first aid can be required by a considerable number of casualties and must be provided immediately after actual injury or poisoning. The world's experiences in managing the consequences of natural and technological disasters prove the factor of time to be the most important for saving humane lives within first minutes of emergency, when there are no rescue teams and medical services yet or they are too few to help all the victims. Very often the only chance to save the life is to fall back on the self- and peer-rescue. That is why it is necessary to be well prepared for first aid giving in emergency situations.
Algorithms of first aid are currently being changing in compliance of the results of new investigations, and Russian and European Guidelines. Besides, implementation of the new standards FSES 3 and FSES 3++ produced considerable modifications in the curriculum of the subject “Life safety in Medicine”, included the module “First Aid”, and the subject “First aid practice in case of accidents and disasters” designed for the first-year medical students of tertiary institutions. The module mastering is finalized by the modular check-up. The educational programme in English has been implemented at Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University since 2013. Only during the year 2014 nearly 140 first-year foreign students studied the module “First Aid” at the Chair of Emergenct Medicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University. Besides, it is only our University (besides the other tertiary institutions around the country) that annually trains a significant number of the foreign students as a part of the Russian-speaking groups. Until now there were neither course books nor study guides for the foreign students using English as an educational communication language to get prepared for the “First Aid” modular check-up. So the need in contemporary courseware eventually led to the creation of this course book by the topics of the module “First Aid”.
Edited by the academic and tutorial staff of the Chair of Emergency Medicine the English version of the course book “First aid in case of accidents and disasters” includes ten principle topics of the subject “First aid practice in case of accidents and disasters” and module “First Aid”. The information is presented in accordance with the contemporary recommendations and algorithms, including the newest features of basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation and self-protection for first aid providers in the pandemic. At the same time, this course book contains key questions, case studies, provisional test for the modular control, for the students’ self-training and self-assessment. This course book can be useful for full-time or distant teaching involving the electronic (inclusive of those distant) learning resources.
The presented course book is designed especially for the students who study in English. Likewise, it can be used by the foreign students attending classes as a part of the Russian-speaking groups. Besides, it can serve as a source of supplementary information for the students of medical classes and colleges learning English.