From July 22 to August 20, the Caravan of the Red Cross stops in 9 French towns to inform and introduce holidaymakers to life-saving actions.
The Red Cross Summer Caravan hit the road again for a 15th editing. From July 22 to August 20, the volunteers will travel across France and stop over in 9 cities (1) to meet and initiate as many people as possible free of charge in life-saving gestures. Residents and vacationers will also be able to learn how to use a defibrillator, or life-saving behaviors in exceptional situations.
In each of the stopover towns, activities and events will be accessible from 10 years old. Thus, young and old will be able to participate together in the initiation to first aid and life-saving behaviors. In two hours, the volunteers will learn to alert the emergency services, give cardiac massage, apply a tourniquet and treat bleeding. “On a daily basis as in a crisis situation, these actions can help save lives by stabilizing the injured during the minutes before the arrival of emergency services,” says the Red Cross.
This training can be supplemented by the “Alert-Masser-Defibriller” training. Volunteers will learn to place the victim in a lateral safety position (PLS), identify cardiac malaise, perform cardiac massage by combining it with automated defibrillation. “Simple but vital gestures” taught in 40 minutes.
100,000 French people trained per year
The volunteers will also try to introduce tourists and residents to disaster risk reduction. This one-hour activity aims to “make individuals aware of their vulnerability to an individual or collective disaster and make them think about setting up a family self-protection plan”.
Children under 10 are not forgotten. The youngest can also be introduced to its training thanks to fun and educational activities. They will also practice first aid on a mannequin, and they will discover how to reduce the risks of everyday life.
Since the creation of the Summer Caravan in 1999, nearly 47,000 people have been introduced to life-saving actions. “Following recent events and while” Adoptons les behaviors qui savvent “obtained the Great National Cause 2016 label, this edition of the Summer Caravan takes on even more meaning”, underlines the association which trains more than 100 000 French to first aid.
(1) La Ciotat, Bordeaux, Metz, Dinard, Illkirch, Savigny-le-Temple, Roquebrun, La Salvetat-sur-Agout and Cessenon-sur-Orb,
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