OSHA has a best practice guide for first aid titled, "Fundamentals of a Workplace First-Aid Program." Excerpts from it are shown below. First aid is emergency care provided for injury or sudden illness before emergency medical treatment is available. The first-aid provider in the workplace is someone who is trained in the delivery of initial medical emergency procedures, using a limited amount of equipment to perform a primary assessment and intervention while awaiting arrival of emergency medical service (EMS) personnel.

A workplace first-aid program is part of a comprehensive safety and health management system that includes the following four essential elements:

• Management leadership and employee involvement
• Worksite analysis
• Hazard prevention and control
• Safety and health training

The purpose of this guide is to present a summary of the basic elements for a first-aid program at the workplace. Those elements include:

• Identifying and assessing the workplace risks that have potential to cause worker injury or illness.
• Designing and implementing a workplace first-aid program that: 1. Aims to minimize the outcome of accidents or exposures. 2. Complies with OSHA requirements relating to first aid. 3. Includes sufficient quantities of appropriate and readily accessible first-aid supplies and first-aid equipment, such as bandages and automated external defibrillators. 4. Assigns and trains first-aid providers who receive first-aid training suitable to the specific workplace, and receive periodic refresher courses on first-aid skills and knowledge.
• Instructing all workers about the first-aid program, including what workers should do if a coworker is injured or ill. Putting the policies and program in writing is recommended to implement this and other program elements.
• Providing for scheduled evaluation and changing of the first-aid program to keep the program current and applicable to emerging risks in the workplace, including regular assessment of the adequacy of the first-aid training course.

This guide also includes an outline of the essential elements of safe and effective first-aid training for the workplace as guidance to institutions teaching first-aid courses and to the consumers of these courses.