You would think that as humans we would have a basis of empathy and understanding when it comes to our support of other humans in need and in the majority of cases, this is indeed true. However, our shared experiences of being human often isn’t enough and as a result we need to understand that peoples’ experience of life differs because of discrimination and stigma. Knowing this we must take into consideration our many frames of reference in order to fully support and understand one another from a first aid point of view.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission list a number of Protected Characteristics that are written into the Equality Act 2010 and over the coming months we will be highlighting how some of them may affect our ability to function as first aiders.
For quick access, this is the list of protected characteristics…
- Age
- Disability
- Gender Reassignment
- Pregnancy and Maternity
- Marriage and Civil Partnership
- Race and ethnicity
- Religion and belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
There are many situations where you will need to adjust your approach or (treatment in physical first aid) because you have taken into consideration the lens from which an individual lives their lives and the impact that this may have in terms of their needs. It is super important that this is done so that the person feels seen and understood.
We will be breaking down the characteristic, the difficulties that an individual may have and how we can approach the situation from an informed first aid point of view.
In February, we will be deep diving into the Age characteristic.