Experts in Preparedness-Related Areas Sought for American Red Cross Advisory Council on First Aid and Safety

The American Red Cross is accepting applications for new members to serve on the American Red Cross Advisory Council on First Aid and Safety (ACFAS). In late 1998, the American Red Cross formed an independent panel of nationally recognized health and safety experts. Drawing on a body of collective expertise from such diverse fields as emergency medicine, occupational health, sports medicine, school health, EMS response and disaster mobilization, ACFAS was designed as a conduit to establish the standard in first aid care. ACFAS is now charged by the Vice President, Preparedness, to advise the American Red Cross in areas related to the development and dissemination of audience-appropriate information and training in preparedness, including first aid, CPR and aquatics. To fill these positions, the American Red Cross seeks:

• Persons distinguished in preparedness education and outreach.
• Persons distinguished in and experiences with research relevant to first aid and safety which includes, but is not limited to, scientific evidence supporting emergency care protocols; new trends in first aid and safety provision; federal, state and local regulatory control; compliance issues; and related topics.
• Persons distinguished in and experienced with research in preparedness education, including appropriate testing approaches in the areas of knowledge, skills, attitudes and behavior.
• Persons distinguished in the practice of emergency and/or trauma medicine.
• Persons distinguished in providing pre-hospital emergency care as public safety officials who include police, fire, ambulance and paramedic personnel.
• Persons distinguished in providing first responder emergency care in non-traditional settings or circumstances which include industrial safety personnel, occupational health nurses, athletic trainers, ski patrol members, disaster team members, first aid station attendants and lifeguards.
• Persons representing health care consumers' interests in preparedness.

Statement of Purpose
Advisory statements are developed by the American Red Cross Advisory Council on First Aid and Safety for use by the American Red Cross. These statements are based on a scientific review of available information and clinical studies utilizing evidence-based principles. These statements undergo periodic review, and may be reconsidered as new information becomes available or scientific advances occur. The procedures and guidelines detailed in the Advisory Statements are Red Cross approved and adopted as reflecting appropriate medical assistance to be provided by lay persons. These training procedures will be incorporated into national training materials as those national training materials are revised.

Evidence-Based Principles for Determining Therapeutic Effectiveness
The strength of all ACFAS recommendations and conclusions is related to the scientific evidence upon which they are based. All recommendations therefore derive from critical review of the available medical literature including formal clinical trials and studies and the strength of their design, standard reference material, textbooks and expert opinion. All recommendations are weighted based upon the source and strength of the scientific evidence and are classified into one of three groups—treatment standards, treatment guidelines or treatment options.

• Treatment standards represent the strongest recommendations and have a high degree of clinical certainty. These recommendations result from strong evidence obtained from well designed, prospective, randomized controlled studies.
• Treatment guidelines provide a moderate degree of clinical certainty and are based on less robust evidence such as non-randomized cohort studies, case-control studies, or retrospective observational studies.
• Treatment options result from all other evidence, publications, expert opinion, etc. and are the least compelling in terms of scientific evidence.

Interested individuals should apply by submitting a Curriculum Vitae (CV) via e-mail to Inga Jelescheff, Director of Operations, Preparedness, American Red Cross, at JeleschefI@usa.redcross.org no later than January 15, 2005.