Written by Council Historian, Jan Gerovac
First aid has been a part of Girl Scouting since its beginning. Medicine in 1912 was very different than it is today. The only vaccination available was for smallpox, there was no such thing as health insurance, and yearly doctor exams were a thing of the future.
The 1913 How Girls Can Help Their Country had thirteen pages on first aid. The topics covered the “usual” items such as nosebleeds, artificial respiration, and frostbite along with era specific information on runaway horses and gas/sewer gas.
Second class Girl Scouts, now known as Brownie Girl Scouts (Grades 2-3), could obtain the Ambulance proficiency badge, which was a white cross on a red background, by showing their knowledge in nine areas. Those areas were how to stop a runaway horse, stop bleeding, apply a tourniquet, treat poison ivy and frostbite and remove a cinder from an eye. Girls also had to know the Schaefer Method of Resuscitation, what to do in case of fire, and treatment and bandaging of the injured. Proficiency tests were given before a Court of Honor by two examiners who were qualified and independent.
With the 1923 handbook, Scouting for Girls, the first aid section had increased to fifty pages. The Girl Scouts were working with the American Red Cross so that if a Girl Scout earned her First Aide badge she could earn Red Cross certification in seven and a half hours instead of the usual fifteen. A girl still had to be a second class Girl Scout to earn this badge. The requirements for this badge were that a girl show her knowledge in six areas that included nineteen items and demonstrate her skill in five others. The First Aide badge was a part of the Scout Aide group badge. This badge was a red cross on a black background.
The 1932 handbook the requirements were essentially the same. The badge became a white tourniquet on a green background.
In 1936, Girl Scout Handbook had First Aid badges for both first class and second class Girl Scouts. The previous requirements were divided between the two badges.
With the introduction of the Intermediate Girl Scout level in 1938, the First Aid proficiency badge moved to the Intermediate level. In the 1941 handbook, there were ten activities listed and girls were required to do eight of them including the five starred items. The starred items were the ones demonstrating actual first aid skills such as first aid for blisters, the pressure points on the body, and using a two-person carry for an injured patient. This is the first time an activity consisted of making a telephone card for emergencies as the telephone was just becoming a household item. The badge returned to a red cross this time on a green background.
At this time Senior Girl Scouts worked on Aide pins related to vocational interests so there was no first aid badge per se in their activities.
The 1950 Girl Scout Handbook for Intermediate Girl Scout, now knows as Junior and Cadette (Grades 4-5, 6-8), listed fifteen activities with ten required including three starred to earn the badge.
The requirements were essentially the same as the 1941 requirements. This handbook added a First Aid to Animals badge. It also listed fifteen activities with ten activities required including the two starred ones to earn this badge. This badge had a red cross on a green background with the silhouette of a dog’s head on the cross.
In the 1954 handbook the First Aid badge is listed for Junior High girls. The activities to earn the First Aid to Animals badge and the First Aid badge were essentially the same as the 1950 book.
With the restructuring in 1963, Junior and Cadette levels were introduced. The First Aid badge stayed with the Junior High age girls who were now called Cadettes. The 1963 printing of the Cadette Girl Scout Handbook has ten activities for the First Aid badge that all had to be done to earn the badge. This badge was still a red cross on green background but now had a yellow border.
The 1984 Girl Scout Badges and Signs book for Juniors and Cadettes moves the First Aid badge to Juniors. A junior had to complete six of the nine activities including the two starred activities. The badge became a yellow cross on green background with a red border.
In 1951 Senior Girl Scouts started the Five Point Program which lasted until 1963. The 1963 Senior Girl Scout Handbook continues the non-proficiency badge work of Senior Girl Scouts with the Eight Indispensables. This program lasted until 1974. In 1979 Cadettes and Seniors had Interest Project Patches. These were modified in 1997 and were in use until 2010. The Studio 2B program was added for Cadettes and Seniors in 2000 and lasted until 2009. None of these programs had a first aid component.
The 2001 Junior Girl Scout Badge Book lists ten activities with girls having to complete six activities to earn the badge. The badge continues to be a yellow cross on a green background now with green border.
With the addition of Ambassadors in 2009, all girl programs were overhauled. Each age level had its own Journeys, legacy badges, and new badges to go along with the Journeys. First Aid badges returned to Brownies through Ambassadors.
The content of these has remained essentially the same although the badges changed in 2024. Each badge has five components that must be completed. Each component has three choices of which a girl must complete one. While the Brownie and Junior level First Aid badges do not have the skill level that early badges did; by the time a girl reaches the Ambassador level her skill level is comparable to the early First Aide badges.
I have used the currently accepted spelling of a-i-d except in the name of badges where it was spelled a-i-d-e which was the accepted spelling at the time the badge was current.
The medically approved way of treating things like burns and asthma has changed over the years and the future will no doubt bring more. Knowing how to take care of everyday bumps and bruises, and what to do in case of an emergency will be as important to girls in the future as it is to girls today and as it was to those in 1912.