All "Standard" and Basic First Aid courses assume that there will be only one injured person at a time. Disaster First Aid recognizes and manages the reality that there will be many.

Standard and Basic First Aid courses usually require multiple class meetings. Disaster First Aid is critical essentials only, takes about 6 hours, and can be done in one day.

Standard First Aid advises "Call 911 or go to the local Emergency Room." In a disaster, both of these will be overwhelmed and overrun. In Disaster First Aid you learn how to connect quickly with the local Disaster Response Network in your area, report what you need, and get help as soon as possible.

Disaster First Aid is adapted from Paramedic and First Responder protocols, scaled to citizen level. With DFA you will be able to do as much as anyone could do, if faced with the same circumstances and limitations.

If you’d like more details and information such as “Common (preventable) Deadly Things That Happen in Disasters”

Read: Why Isn't Standard First Aid Enough?

This question comes up a lot. The main differences, in brief, are these:

“Standard First Aid” such as Red Cross, National Safety Council, and other traditional first aid courses, have a lot of information that’s interesting but won’t really be very useful in a disaster. Disaster First Aid has only the crucial essentials you need, to be able to do what needs to be done, quickly and simply, in an overwhelming emergency when medical help may not be available in many areas for 24 hours to 3 days or more.

Disaster First Aid tells you what to do now, what to do later, and Disaster *Rapid Triage identifies who needs help worst and first, and who can wait, and provides the critical first-actions like opening the airway, bleeding control, and treatment for incipient shock.

*Adapted from START Triage, which was developed in 1983 by Hoag Memorial Hospital and Newport Beach Fire Department, Newport Beach California.
 

Standard and Basic First Aid do not have the most important actions such as Rapid Triage, and do not address time-bound priorities that can prevent loss of lives and limbs in multi-victim situations. Standard and Basic First Aid do not have an Action Outline 24-hour Disaster Response Plan. All of the above, Disaster First Aid does.

"It's everything you need and nothing you don't need." - David Baum, neighborhood organizer, Bellevue Washington.