A few weeks ago, a handful of old Red Cross first aid books appeared on my desk. Not satisfied with the mere existence of these wonderful and colorful instruction manuals from the seventies, I decided to track down their source. I had a feeling that my mini-investigation would lead to another neat Red Cross story, and that’s exactly what I found.
I first tracked the books back to Becky White from our Disaster Services Department. Becky manages our region’s Disaster Action Team volunteers, and one of her current volunteers, Sara Gunn, shared the manuals with her. As it turns out, the books belonged to Sara’s mom. The family is in the process of moving, and Sara rediscovered the books and a few memories.
The books came from my mom's Girl Scout leader. My mom, Kimberly Gunn-Stone, was a girl scout in 1976 when she was 13 years old. The troop was working on the First Aid Girl Scout badge in March and April of 1976. As part of the First Aid Badge you had to demonstrate what to do for 3 types of injuries that required immediate attention (i.e. shock, 2 forms of mouth to mouth, etc). She had to demonstrate a two-man carry, explain when and why a victim should not be moved, etc. There were 10 total things she had to do to get the badge.
Mom even found a picture of all the Girl Scouts in her home; one girl has her arm in a sling, one girl had a bandage around her her, etc. They were learning how to treat first aid patients.
We donated the books because we don't need them anymore and we thought someone else could learn from them or that they could be stored in the American Red Cross library. The books are from the 1970s and 1980s…We are happy to donate these books to a good cause.
Thanks so much for the books and the story, Sara!
Our CPR and First Aid programs have changed a bit since the seventies, but the lifesaving message is still the same. If you’d like to take a class, visit
redcross.org/takeaclass today.
Lindsey
Lindsey Weber is the Communication Specialist for the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter.