Elevating first aid information on YouTube search
Jan 10, 2024 – [[read-time]] minute read
Since its launch in 2020, YouTube Health’s mission has been to put high-quality health content at people’s fingertips around the world, with a range of new features from health labels to identify licensed medical professionals to crisis resource panels for viewers in times of distress.
Starting today, we’re making it even easier to find step-by-step explainer videos for basic first aid and emergency care made by authoritative health organizations. Our new first aid information shelves will be pinned to the top of search results, featuring easy-to-follow videos with the goal of helping people quickly find credible and actionable first aid information without reading or listening to complex instructions.
The shelves will appear prominently in search results for a variety of acute health topics, including:
- CPR
- Choking/Heimlich
- Bleeding
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Seizure
- Opioid overdose
YouTube Health partnered with Mass General Brigham and the Mexican Red Cross on content that will appear in the shelves alongside videos from other leading health organizations. The series includes videos on how to perform CPR, how to stop bleeding, and how to help someone who is overdosing.
First aid information health shelves are launching in the U.S. in English and Spanish, with additional countries and languages to come. As an early pilot tester of Aloud, YouTube’s AI-powered dubbing tool, Mass General Brigham is able to share this critical health information beyond language barriers in Spanish.
“Our system is committed to providing credible, trusted information to our patients and, more broadly, to people seeking knowledge around the world,” said Merranda Logan, MD, MPH, Associate Chief Academic Officer at Mass General Brigham. “We are thrilled to expand our YouTube educational series to include step-by-step basic first aid and emergency care videos in multiple languages.”
“ With this information available on YouTube in English and in Spanish anyone can learn the two-steps of Hands-Only CPR. It is also a place to hear firsthand from survivors on the importance of people being able to respond in an emergency.”
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“We are very pleased to collaborate with YouTube Health to bring videos with techniques approved by the Mexican Red Cross and help people with first aid information just when they need medical support the most. We want to help save lives and prevent bad first aid techniques that can be performed without the right medical knowledge. We will continue to work to add more reliable and easy-to-understand health content,” said Ana Robles Quijano, National Fundraising Coordinator from the Mexican Red Cross.
“The mission of the Nation of Lifesavers movement is simple — to educate and prepare anyone to be confident to save a life in the event of a cardiac emergency,” said Comilla Sasson, MD, PhD, Vice President of health science for the American Heart Association. “With this information available on YouTube in English and in Spanish anyone can learn the two-steps of Hands-Only CPR. It is also a place to hear firsthand from survivors on the importance of people being able to respond in an emergency.”
To expand access to first aid information even further, YouTube Health worked with the American Heart Association to publish a CPR course, available for free on YouTube, aimed at helping people without a medical background learn hands-only CPR or refresh their skills. The course provides viewers the opportunity to take the next step beyond watching a single video, with an in-depth, structured learning experience. A Spanish-language version of the course will be available on the AHA’s channel in February 2024 for American Heart Month.
Today’s announcement is a significant step forward to increase access to authoritative resources on first aid care, especially for those without medical training at times when they may need it most. We’re committed to harnessing the power of video to make public health information truly public. And we’re always working to grow the amount of authoritative health creators of many different backgrounds and languages on the platform, giving viewers even more choice when it comes to information on health-impacting topics.
Stay tuned on our continued efforts to provide equitable access to the best and brightest thinking in medicine and public health.