Every medical situation, light or severe, is an emergency that cannot be delayed. Whether it is a bee sting or a severe accident, prompt medical help is important which covers the time between the accident and the arrival of the doctor. This is why one should be aware of and possess basic first aids for any medical emergency. The first aids should not only be with a person personally, but every official or unofficial place should have a first aid kit available. Schools and colleges, offices, restaurants and every place should be ready to tackle emergency medical situations with at least basic awareness, if not a proper knowledge of first aid. Even the doctor advice the awareness and use of the first aids, which can not only avoid the critical medical condition but can also prove to be a healer, without the complexity of capsules and injections. But first aids work only when there are awareness, availability and promptness.
Cord Meyer, a Northeastern University medical student and an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), undertook an important initiative to provide first aid kits and awareness about first aid to college students. He started a company named, Rescue Hound that provides first aid kits specifically designed for college students. These kits are different because they are customizable, and hence the student or their parent can add or subtract items from the kit.
The company has three basic packages for the kits, each of $35 only, to address different people and conditions. “The Husky” is the basic first aid kit found in houses or cars and can treat small cuts or burns. “The Greyhound” is specially designed first aid kit for athletes and the third “The St. Bernard” is the kit equipped to deal with more serious medical conditions. The company also runs a website that facilitates its easy market, purchase and returns. The website, besides providing the kit as a whole, also provides individual items to add to or replenish the purchased kit.
The Rescue Hound is an optimized, well-structured, and a positive social initiative. Providing kits that are cheap, customizable, and easy to purchase, replenish or return, encourage people to purchase first aid kits and understand its importance. It also provides a better option than the high prized kits in the market that either have used or expired items or have items that are never used with no option to remove or change. Therefore, Meyers’ initiative to encourage the use of first aid is appreciable and an example for other colleges or firms to encourage first aids and consequently save more lives.
Rudrani Kumari