First Aid, Civic Engagement, Training

First Aid, Civic Engagement, Training (FACET) was a project focusing on the improvement of first aid education in partner countries. In particular, the civic value of volunteers, as first aid trainers and as first aiders, was considered.This was be achieved through a series of international meetings on the exchange of best practices in first aid training and, particularly, matters of volunteer management and training connected to first aid and how first aid can be an entry into voluntary civic commitment. These best practices were collected in a best practice brochure and, informed by this collection of practices, a practical international training of (volunteer) trainers was created and implemented in a pilot action, a train-the-trainer course. The course further helped to make the results tangible for the participating practitioners and provided support to the partner countries most in need of improving their volunteer based first aid education opportunities. The partners participating in these exchanges came from a spectrum of backgrounds with regard to the status of civil society organisations and first aid education offered by CSOs in their countries. Most partners are established providers of qualified and certified first aid in their countries. A first group of partners have enjoyed this status for many decades, a second group, particularly from Eastern Europe, have only established their position as a first aid provider within the last 25 years, as civil society and volunteering activities weren’t possible before.Thirdly, we have a partner organisation from North Macedonia. While active in volunteering for many years, they are still at the beginning of sustainably offering first aid training as part of their volunteer structures. In addition, certification systems for qualified first aid education aren’t as clearly defined and/or enforced in this region of the EU’s neighbourhood, thereby posing an obstacle for purely national establishment of volunteer-CSO-based first aid education. As a result of this exchange of organisations with diverse national volunteering cultures, all participating partners gained new insights into volunteer management and training in the area of first aid, enabling them to make their methods and practices more universal than just geared toward their national target group. We consider this a strong added value in an ever more united Europe and as a contribution to work mobility for first aid professionals. Our partner from the third group benefited in particular, as the project enabled them to establish or first aid education in their volunteering portfolio.The newly established course in North Macedonia, as well as the improvements expected in the other countries, where volunteer-based first aid education is already widely available, will advance the opportunities of quality first aid education for the general populace in the partner countries.