The Singapore Red Cross has uploaded a series of videos to turn Instagram users into lifesavers.

Reducing emergency response time

The general idea is that in an emergency, faster response rates significantly increase the rate of survival.

However, emergency responses are hindered by the lack of access to life-saving knowledge.

To address this concern, Singapore Red Cross launched an initiative called "Instasave" earlier in September to mark World First Aid Day.

This involved uploading a series of six videos on its @sgredcross Instagram account for everyday people to deal with everyday emergencies, such as stroke, seizure, heart attack, severe bleeding, burns and choking.

Step-by-step instructions

The videos provide specific do's and don'ts in the event of an emergency to guide the user on certain procedures.

Here's what a typical instructional video would look like:

In a choking emergency, first aid can mean the difference between life and death. Make sure you’re ready to help and saving this video so you can access it easily in an emergency. Just tap the ‘Save’ button on your right to save it instantly. #instasave #savenowtosavelater

A post shared by Singapore Red Cross (@sgredcross) on Sep 8, 2017 at 7:28am PDT

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Making a useless button useful

This initiative also tries to tap on a lesser-known function on Instagram: The save button. 

Or rather it is a play on it, because you know, "save".

For the instructional videos, all you have to do is to tap on the "Save for later" button (the ribbon icon), because they want you to save it for later:

This downloads the video into your account. It should appear under the "Saved" tab:

This way, you can easily access the video again later when presented with an emergency situation.

Usefulness of the videos

Shouldn't watching a video be the last thing you do during an emergency?

Leaving that question aside, by supposedly tapping on the 1.4 million Singaporean users on Instagram, this initiative wants to allow for every Singaporean Instagrammer to have access to basic first-aid knowledge.

However, some videos might be less helpful than others.

For burns, seizures, or severe bleeding, the do's and don'ts instructions are simple and specific enough to follow.

However, other cases, such as heart attacks and choking, are more complex.

For choking, one has to lean the person forward and perform abdominal thrusts in an inward and upward direction. This process is also known as the Heimlich manoeuvre.

However, when performed incorrectly, it may possibly result in injuries to the rib cage or upper abdominal organs.

To help a heart attack victim, it appears this is to stray into the territory of non-amateurs as one is required to perform chest compressions and request for an AED.

Although AEDs come with instructions and do not have to be administered by a trained healthcare professional, not everyone is trained to perform CPR as carrying it out wrongly can result in injury.

While these videos may raise awareness on basic life-saving skills, to respond effectively to a wide range of situations would still require prior practice or having attended basic first-aid or life-saving courses.

Top photo from DDB and screenshot of @sgredcross Instagram