In remote settlements and urban neighborhoods where ambulances take longer to arrive — or sometimes do not come at all — knowing what to do in the first minutes of an emergency is the difference between life and death. I have trained hundreds of Roma community members in basic first aid, and I have seen this knowledge save lives before any doctor arrived.
112 works from any phone in Europe — even without credit, even without a SIM card, even from a locked phone. Teach every member of your family, including children over 7, to dial 112 and say where they are. Practice this. In an emergency, panic makes people forget
For heavy bleeding: press firmly with the cleanest cloth you have — a shirt, a headscarf, anything — and do not lift it to check. Keep pressing until help arrives. I have seen people bleed dangerously because they kept removing the cloth to look. Add more cloth on top if blood soaks through
Burns: immediately place the burn under cool running water for at least 10 minutes. Never apply butter, oil, toothpaste, or egg white — traditional remedies I have encountered in many families that actually trap the heat and cause worse damage and infection
If someone collapses and is not breathing: call 112, then push hard and fast in the center of their chest — 100 times per minute (the tempo of the song 'Stayin' Alive'). Do not stop until help arrives. Imperfect CPR is infinitely better than no CPR
Studies show that in communities where basic first aid training is widespread, survival from cardiac arrest doubles. In many Roma communities, ambulance response times are significantly longer than in non-Roma areas — making bystander first aid even more critical.
Right now, ask each family member: do you know how to call 112? Do you know our home address well enough to tell the dispatcher? Write your full address on a piece of paper and put it near the phone. Teach your children today.