Secondary Profession. Allows the creation and use bandages up to a potential skill of X. The cloth used to make those bandages are found on humanoids in the world.
First Aid is a secondary profession which enables a player to heal themselves or others, and to remove poisons. First Aid practitioners may create a variety of bandages which can be used to heal any player. Bandages can be made from either [Linen Cloth], [Wool Cloth], [Silk Cloth], [Mageweave Cloth], [Runecloth], [Netherweave Cloth], or [Frostweave Cloth] (see list of cloths). Higher quality cloth produces more effective bandages. When applied to a character, bandages cannot be reapplied to that same character for the next 60 seconds, until the "Recently Bandaged" debuff disappears. First Aid practitioners can also make anti-venom consumables from venom sacs dropped by various poisonous monsters (e.g., scorpids and spiders), though they are not as powerful as those created by Alchemists.
First Aid is highly recommended to all classes as a way of reducing downtime between battles, by quickly restoring health after combat. Even classes with healing spells can benefit, since using a bandage after combat will conserve mana, saving the time otherwise spent drinking.
Bandages, usable in or out of combat, also have a large role in groups and raids. Characters who are not tanking or healing can back away from the battle at hand and apply a bandage to themselves, to help save the healer's mana. If you have more bandages than you need, they can be sold for more than the raw material of the cloth.
However, be warned that being hit (including damage over time spells) while applying a bandage will cancel its channeled heal. A remedy to this problem is to stun, fear, or find some other means to lose the aggro of that monster long enough to get some use out of the bandage. This can be useful in PvP, where a stun applied to the enemy in some cases stops your attack (removes you from "combat") so that the bandage can be applied more fully.
To begin your first aid career, seek out the First Aid trainer in the starting zone for your race. There are no prerequisites for learning First Aid other than the 10 copper you'll be charged. Once you've acquired the First Aid skill, you can begin making Linen Bandages immediately and your potential skill level will be 75. Thereafter, consult the following table as you progress in First Aid skill.
A level 1 character (with enough gold) can raise their first aid skill to 225, high enough to use [Heavy Runecloth Bandage]s.
Trainers are located in each city and in several other population centers. Consult the list of trainers or ask a guard for directions. All trainers now teach the same recipes and all levels of the profession.
Patch 3.0.9 (2009-02-10): Master training no longer requires level 50 but does require first aid skill of 275. Train under Brynna Wilson in Valiance Keep.
You no longer need to complete the "Triage" quest to attain Artisan First Aid. Instead you can learn the Artisan skill from the trainers in the capital cities.
You no longer need to learn First Aid from books. The trainers have finally done their reading and are able to teach you the same thing.