Notes · August 13, 2026
How these courses are written, and what we refuse to do
Named sources on every course, no invented numbers, no dosing, no diagnosis — and a short list of things we will not publish at any length.
A site that tells people what to do in an emergency has to be right, and it has to be obviously right, because nobody in a crisis is going to stop and audit it. So the rules came before the content.
Every course names its sources
Course content follows the published lay-rescuer guidance of the organizations that set it — the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, the CDC, SAMHSA, ACOG, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, among others. Each course lists the specific organizations behind it at the bottom of the page, with links, so the original is always one click away.
Where guidance bodies differ, and they sometimes do, we teach the Red Cross lay-rescuer version and say plainly that trained methods vary. We do not silently pick a winner.
No number without a name attached
There is no statistic anywhere on this site that does not name its source organization in the same sentence. Most courses carry none at all, because a course does not need a number to be useful and a wrong number is worse than no number.
Where a precise figure could not be stood behind, the sentence was rewritten in weaker but true terms. That is a deliberate trade: a slightly less punchy sentence in exchange for never having to walk something back.
Recognition, never diagnosis or treatment
These courses teach two things: what to notice, and what to do in the first minutes. They do not teach diagnosis, and they carry no drug dosing of any kind. There are exactly two exceptions in the entire library, both of them standard lay guidance: naloxone used as packaged, and aspirin mentioned only as something a 911 dispatcher may instruct you to do.
The two courses that touch suicide follow national safe-messaging guidance: no methods, no means detail, no normalizing statistics, hope-centred throughout, and a 988 banner at both the top and the bottom of the page.
The rule that outranks the others
Nothing on this site may ever discourage someone from seeking care. Not a reassurance, not a threshold, not a myth-busting section, not a quiz explanation. The only reassurance we offer is about the social cost of calling — that nobody will be annoyed with you — never about the danger itself.
Where a course had to choose between being complete and being safe, it was written short.
And when we get it wrong
We will. Guidance evolves, and a site written by people is a site with mistakes in it. Every course has a Spot an error? Tell us link, a person reads what comes in, and corrections go out. If a course and your doctor — or the dispatcher on the phone with you — disagree, they win. Every time.
The full statement of what these courses are and are not is on the disclaimer page, and the sources are listed on every course.
SignsToSave is free educational content, not medical advice. In an emergency, call 911.