Toronto teen uses first aid skills to save brother
In 2025, one of our FALCON graduates, just 15 years old at the time, had to use the first aid skills she learned to save her brother when he was choking.
It takes courage to take charge of an emotionally charged situation, especially one involving someone you love, and use skills you just learned. We are incredibly proud of our FALCON!
First aid is about life-saving skills and the confidence to use them. It's about thinking clearly under pressure and doing what needs to be done.
How common is choking?
🔹 In the U.S., 5,553 people died from choking in 2022. It is the 4th leading cause of unintentional injury death (National Safety Council).
🔹 In Canada, an estimated 32 children age 14 and under die every year from choking, suffocation and strangulation, and another 800 are hospitalized for serious injuries (Parachute).
Those are only the most serious outcomes. Amanda Farris, Red Cross training partner, sees how close to home it hits:
"In over 10 years of teaching first aid, I estimate that 1 out of every 4 classes I teach includes a participant who has either had to use the choking procedure on someone or knows someone else who has."
Know the difference
Severe choking: the airway is blocked. The person can't forcefully cough or speak. This needs immediate action. Red Cross training teaches three methods that are extremely effective when used in combination: back blows, abdominal thrusts and chest thrusts.
Mild choking: the airway is only partly blocked and air is still moving. This is much more common and happens to most of us at some point. The person can cough, which is the body's way of clearing the airway. It may be embarrassing (you really won't die of embarrassment!) and hard to watch, but don't touch them or interfere. Performing the choking procedure on someone who can still cough forcefully could shift the object and cause a full obstruction.
Knowing the difference is just one of the skills first aid training teaches.
Most people aren't ready
🔹 A U.S. survey of 1,051 adults found 47% had ever taken first aid training, and only 13% had trained in the past two years.
🔹 In Canada, Red Cross polling found only 18% of Canadians were currently certified in first aid (2012).
Imagine how many people can be helped over a lifetime when more teens learn first aid skills!
FALCON is Medics Camp's elite first aid leadership program for teens ages 13-17 in the Greater Toronto Area, teaching first aid skills to industry standards and leadership skills that make a difference. The FALCON 2027 release date is expected December 1st.
