First Aid Merit Badge

1. Handling a first aid emergency Requirement

Seven parts covering what you do before any treatment starts.

7 parts

• 1(a). Assess and handle an emergency
• 1(b). Get medical help, from home and from the wilderness
• 1(c). Avoid transmitting infection
• 1(d). Evaluate and manage airway and breathing
• 1(e). Examine an accident victim thoroughly
• 1(f). Why shock is an emergency
• 1(g). Triage

14. Teach a first aid skill using EDGE Often forgotten Task

A plan developed with your counselor's guidance, discussed with them, and then actually taught. This one needs somebody to teach and is the most often left too late.

This is the requirement most often left until last and the one that most often stalls a nearly-finished badge. It needs a plan developed with guidance from your counselor, discussed with them, and then actually delivered using the EDGE method, which means finding people to teach and a time to teach them. Start arranging it at the beginning.

2. Preparing for emergencies Requirement

The health record, and two first aid kits.

4 parts

• 2(a). The Scout Annual Health and Medical Record
• 2(b). Two kits, against a checklist
• 2(b)(1). Assemble a personal kit for hiking and backpacking
• 2(b)(2). Inspect an existing kit

3. Wounds with no external bleeding Often forgotten Requirement

The biggest group in the badge: seventeen of them. For each, the symptoms and signs, the first aid, and how to prevent it.

17 parts

• 3(a). Closed wounds
• 3(b). Thermal burns and scalds
• 3(c). Chemical burns
• 3(d). Electrical burns
• 3(e). Sunburn
• 3(f). Snow blindness
• 3(g). Cold injuries to the extremities
• 3(h). Abrasions
• 3(i). Blisters
• 3(j). Puncture wounds
• 3(k). Rash from poisonous plants
• 3(l). Bug bites
• 3(m). Bee stings
• 3(n). Spider bites
• 3(o). Scorpion sting
• 3(p). Bite of a pet, wild mammal or human
• 3(q). Venomous snake bite

4. Bleeding wounds Requirement

Four parts, running from a nosebleed to a tourniquet.

4 parts

• 4(a). Nosebleed
• 4(b). Mild or moderate bleeding
• 4(c). Severe bleeding
• 4(d). Tourniquets, when, when not, and how Often forgotten

5. Breathing emergencies Requirement

Five conditions affecting breathing.

5 parts

• 5(a). Choking
• 5(b). Asthma attack
• 5(c). Anaphylaxis
• 5(d). Inhalation injuries
• 5(e). Altitude sickness

6. Loss of consciousness Requirement

Seven causes, several of them specific to water and weather.

7 parts

• 6(a). Fainting
• 6(b). Hypoglycaemia
• 6(c). Seizure
• 6(d). Drug overdose and alcohol poisoning
• 6(e). Underwater hypoxic blackout
• 6(f). Cold water shock and drowning
• 6(g). Lightning strike and electric shock

7. Heart attack, CPR and AEDs Often forgotten Requirement

Seven parts, and three of them need equipment or a walk around your community.

Three parts of this requirement need something you do not have at home. 7(d) needs a CPR training device your counselor approves; 7(f) needs an AED trainer if one is available; and 7(g) needs you to go and find where the AEDs actually are in your community. Arrange the first two together: a counselor with access to a manikin usually has access to an AED trainer at the same time.

7 parts

• 7(a). What a heart attack is
• 7(b). Recognising one, and what to do
• 7(c). When CPR is appropriate
• 7(d). Demonstrate CPR Often forgotten
• 7(e). What an AED does
• 7(f). Demonstrate or simulate using an AED
• 7(g). Find the AEDs near you Often forgotten

8. Muscle and bone injuries Requirement

Twelve parts, most of them demonstrations rather than descriptions.

12 parts

• 8(a). Tell the seven injuries apart
• 8(b). Strains, tears and ruptures
• 8(c). Sprains, fractures and dislocations
• 8(d). Demonstrate bandaging
• 8(d)(1). Arm slings
• 8(d)(2). Ankle sprain
• 8(d)(3). Wrist sprain or hand injury
• 8(e). Demonstrate splinting
• 8(e)(1). Finger and toe
• 8(e)(2). Forearm or wrist
• 8(e)(3). Upper leg
• 8(e)(4). Lower leg or ankle

9. Head and spine injuries Requirement

Four parts, two of them demonstrated.

4 parts

• 9(a). Head, neck and back injuries
• 9(b). Concussion
• 9(c). Open head wound
• 9(d). Suspected neck or back injury

10. Moving a patient Often forgotten Requirement

Five parts, and three of them need at least one other person.

Three of these five need at least one other person, and 10(e) needs several: you improvise a stretcher and move a presumed unconscious person 25 yards with helpers under YOUR supervision. That is a leadership requirement wearing a first aid coat. Arrange 10(c), 10(d) and 10(e) as one session rather than three.

5 parts

• 10(a). When to move somebody, and when not to
• 10(b). Choosing and showing a method
• 10(c). Out of a smoke-filled room Often forgotten
• 10(d). Twenty-five yards with a sprained ankle Often forgotten
• 10(e). Improvise a stretcher and lead the carry Often forgotten

11. Heat and cold conditions Requirement

Six conditions associated with exertion, heat or cold.

6 parts

• 11(a). Dehydration and over-hydration
• 11(b). Heat cramps and muscle pain after exertion
• 11(c). Heat exhaustion
• 11(d). Heat stroke
• 11(e). Chest pain in the cold
• 11(f). Hypothermia

12. Mental health conditions Requirement

Four parts, and the last two are about somebody at risk rather than about an injury.

4 parts

• 12(a). Reactions to three stressful situations
• 12(b). Preparing for and managing them
• 12(c). Recognising somebody at risk
• 12(d). What to do about it Often forgotten

13. Miscellaneous conditions Requirement

Five that belong to no other group.

5 parts

• 13(a). Object in the eye
• 13(b). Damaged or knocked-out tooth
• 13(c). Vomiting and diarrhoea from food poisoning
• 13(d). Abdominal pain
• 13(e). Stroke

15. Careers. Do one of four Requirement

A visit, an interview, three careers researched, or the skills turned towards a hobby or healthier life.

4 parts

• 15(a). Visit an emergency medical station or training centre Optional May not apply
• 15(b). Interview an EMS professional Optional May not apply
• 15(c). Research three EMS careers Optional May not apply
• 15(d). Apply the skills to a hobby or healthier life Optional May not apply

Counselor signs it off Milestone

The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.

Usually comes after 13. Miscellaneous conditions, 14. Teach a first aid skill using EDGE and 15. Careers. Do one of four.

Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.