Back In the Day: Comparing Today's Badges with Those of the Past: First Aid

A few months ago I compared today's Junior Simple Meals badge with cooking badges from past programs.  I found it to be an interesting exercise, so today I'm taking a look at First Aid badges over several programs.  The section headers will link you to my source material.

How Girls Can Help Their Country

The book I reviewed was copyrighted in 1916.  It had two badges similar to today's First Aid badges.  The first was called "Ambulance" and the other "Home Nursing". I think both reflected that people in those days were expected to do much more for themselves than even adults do today.  The girls who used this book were between ten and seventeen years old, so were probably closer to today's Cadettes than Juniors. 

The Ambulance badge required that girls know the Sylvester and Schaefer methods of resuscitation after drowning.  They had to complete one year of attendance at Girl Scout meetings.  Besides knowing what to do in the case of fire, they had to know how to stop a runaway horse (explained elsewhere in the book). They had to be able to apply a bandage, stop bleeding, apply a tourniquet, treat poison ivy and snakebite.  They had to know how to treat frostbite and had to be able to remove a cinder from the eye.  

Home nursing required the girls to pass Red Cross First Aid tests. They also had to know how to make an invalid's bed, how to take a person's temperature, and to count pulse and respiration.  Finally, they had to know how to prepare six dishes of food suitable to give an invalid--and that requirement refers you to a page in the handbook that tells you how to make "Kumyss", which appears to be something like  yogurt or cottage cheese. 

Intermediate Girl Scouts (1940's to 1960's)

Intermediate Girl Scouts were nine to eleven years old, and earned both ranks and badges.  Several first aid activities were necessary for Second Class.  Further, there were several health and nursing related badges.  

The First Aid badge had ten requirements, and girls were required to do eight of them, five of which were required.  The book specifically says that instruction for this badge should be given by a certified person.  

Girls had to be able to properly clean their hands and then apply five different types of bandages. They had to demonstrate proper first aid for blisters, burns (including sunburn), chills from exposure, cuts or scratches, dog bites, frostbite, insect bites, poison ivy, oak or sumac, nose bleed, puncture wounds caused by nails, snake bites or splinters. Another requirement was to show how you would apply digital pressure to the six points on the body where bleeding could be controlled, and tell when you would use each one. They had to demonstrate how to administer artificial respiration and had to show four different ways to transport an injured person.  

The optional activities (pick three) were to write, tell or dramatize a story showing you know how to use first aid, to make a telephone card for your home with emergency numbers, demonstrate how to recognize and treat a patient suffering from shock, to make a simple first aid kit or to show how to give proper first aid for a simple leg fracture.  

Blue Junior Handbook (1960's to early 1970's)

Juniors in this era were in fourth, fifth or sixth grade.  

The Health Aid badge was to teach girls how to take care of themselves and others if there was an accident.  There were eight requirements.  Girls had to make a home telephone card with emergency numbers, and to practice making calls and giving information. They had to practice five ways they could help if someone at home was sick, or demonstrate proper use of a hot water bottle, heating pad and ice pack.  Another requirement was to pantomime things you would do to be sure of safety and comfort on a hike. Girls were required to demonstrate first aid for fainting, small cuts, blisters, bruises, scratches, splinters, and they had to know three ways to use a triangular bandage. 

The next requirement was to either make a first aid kit, or to list ten common household items that must be kept out of the reach of small children, and to tell why.  Girls had to list three or four rules for safe use of troop play equipment and to practice what to do if someone's clothes caught fire.  Finally they had to do a play or poster to show how they gradually took more responsibility for their own health and safety as they get older.

Today's Junior First Aid Badge

According to Badge Explorer, today's Juniors need to:

Find out how to help people when they’re ill or injured and learn how to respond during an emergency.   

1. Learn the first steps to take in an emergency
   
2. Talk to first responders
3. Make a portable first-aid kit
4. Find out how to handle urgent first-aid issues
5. Know how to take care of someone who's sick    

When you've earned this badge, you'll know how to help people who are sick or hurt.

VTK's suggested activities are to make a "Check, Call, Care" poster, skit or video, to talk to a first responder or tour a hospital or ER, to make a first aid kit, have a panel discussion or research issues that require quick first aid (epi-pens are featured in all the leaders' notes).  They role play treating simple illnesses and injuries, visit a doctor's office to learn how to treat simple illnesses or injuries, or have  troop discussion about how they treat simple illnesses or injuries.

My Comments

I took my first First Aid class 40 years ago.  It lasted for about six hours and did not include CPR--that was another three hour class.  I took my most recent First Aid class about a year ago.  I had to watch about two hours of online videos, and then attend about a one hour class, about fifteen minutes of which involved standing in line waiting my turn.  That class included (and was mostly focused on) CPR. 

Clearly much more was expected of me in my first aid class all those years ago, and much more was expected of Girl Scouts.  However, I think that is as much a change in the standards of society and the availability of professional assistance as a change in Girl Scouts. 

40 years ago, consent wasn't an issue discussed at all.  Today it is primary. 40 years ago people didn't carry phones on them at all times, and even if a phone was near, you had to look up the correct emergency number, particularly if you were away from home.  Now, we teach even young children to call 911.  When help was a long way or long time away, it might have made sense for someone with my (not) high level of medical training to try to splint a broken leg.  Today, if the required treatment goes beyond ice or band-aids, I'm calling 911.