Background

In a world full of contingencies, risk, and precarity, emergencies are not a remote possibility but can strike unannounced anytime, anywhere. An emergent situation refers to a sudden occurrence that requires immediate and urgent action to ensure that the situation does not aggravate into an imminent threat to individuals as well as public health, safety, and welfare. 

Despite the popular belief that emergencies and accidents are rare, and always only happen to other people, unexpected crises can often pop up anywhere, putting us in the way of tremendous harm and damage. According to the CPR Northwest, injuries and illnesses kill about 2.2 million people across the world each year.

In the case of medical emergencies, the lack of immediate and effective intervention can often cause permanent, irreparable damage, in addition to drastically increasing the likelihood of mortality. Some common medical emergencies include heart attacks, breathing problems, seizures, and accidents that result in severe burns, excessive bleeding, broken bones, and concussions. All of these situations require quick response to prevent irreparable or long-term harm. For example, according to the American Heart Association, even though 436,000 Americans die from cardiac arrest each year, properly administered CPR can often double or triple the chances of survival after a cardiac arrest.

In spite of the necessity, proper knowledge about first aid care remains unequal. Underserved communities are often circumscribed by pervasive structural barriers that limit their ability to imbibe such life-saving education, a fact that exacerbates their vulnerability in developing countries like India which are marked by extreme socioeconomic inequality: individuals from underserved communities are often likelier to inhabit and work in hazardous work environments with no safety gear or modes of accessible relief. In this light, Project FRTI (First Response Training Initiative) seeks to impart accessible knowledge and skills in administering first aid to students from underserved communities with the aim of creating a safer public sphere that is equipped to deal with dangerous emergent situations.