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First Aid Techniques Everyone Should Know
What is First Aid?
It is important to understand First Aid isn’t designed to help average people give professional medical help. These techniques are small interventions anyone can do to assist a person found in a bad state, and even if there are situations where they can save lives, their actual purpose is to simply help an individual found in distress not escalate their problems further. In this article, you will find First Aid methods that can be helpful when dealing with serious or minor injuries on yourself or others, but shouldn’t be utilized as an alternative to professional assistance. The tips that will be explained further in the article are also not substitutes for First Aid training and their use without the help of an expert is not recommended if there are any doubts to executing the techniques.
Things You Need to Do Before Beginning to Administer First Aid.
Primary Survey.
Evaluate the situation and your capability: if you feel unprepared or emotionally distraught, it might be better to refrain from administering First Aid, as your intervention can cause more harm than good.
Before beginning to deliver First Aid in any of the situations listed below, call the urgency number of the territory you find yourself in or the urgency number of your homeland(112, 991, 999). Operators will help you along the way with guidance and support. Give them all the details you can acquire of the victim.
Make sure the area around you and casualty is safe.
In some cases, protective gloves or a protective material should separate you from direct contact with the victim.
Check if the casualty is responsive or unresponsive. As you approach them, introduce yourself and ask them questions to see if you can get a response. Kneel next to their chest and gently shake their shoulders, asking, ”Are you OK?”, ”Can you open your eyes?”.
If the casualty opens their eyes, or gives another gesture, they are responsive.
If they do not respond to you in any way, they are unresponsive and should be treated as quickly as possible.
If there is life-threatening bleeding (massive amounts of blood pouring, gushing, or spurting from a significant injury) it must be dealt with before moving on to the airway.
Treat life-threatening bleeding by applying direct pressure to the wound before managing their airway.
Check that the airway is open and clear. Open the airway by placing one hand on the forehead to tilt the head back and use two fingers from the other hand to lift the chin.
You now need to check if the casualty is breathing normally. Keep the airway held open, place your ear above their mouth and look down at their chest. Listen for sounds of breathing and see if you can feel their breath on your cheek. Watch to see if their chest moves. Do this for no more than 10 seconds.
*During the first minutes of cardiac arrest, about half of casualties will do something called ”agonal gasping”. They can open their mouths, extend their neck, and take usually slow, sometimes noisy gasps. This is not normal breathing and, in a patient with no signs of life, is a sign of cardiac arrest.
Once you have established that they are breathing normally, look and check for any signs of severe bleeding.
Cases Where First Aid Might be Needed and How to Deal with Them
(Part One)
According to NHS UK, there are about 10 common injuries that you need to look out for if you ever find yourself in situation where First Aid might be required.
Anaphylaxis/Anaphylactic Shock is a severe allergic reaction that can occur after an insect sting or after eating certain foods. The adverse response usually occurs rapidly after coming in to contact with the allergen, and it manifests as the swelling of different parts of the body, such as tongue or neck, which can cause obstruction of the airway and choking.
Position the victim properly(to be discussed in the recovery position chapter).
People that suffer from different allergies might have an adrenaline device on them: find it and inject the medicine.
CPR might be needed if the victim is unresponsive.
Heavy Bleeding is an injury that speaks for itself in terms of manifestation. In cases like this, objects can be logged in the wound and pressing on them directly is not advised, applying force on either side of the object being recommended instead.
It is very important to minimize blood loss by exerting firm pressure on the injury, preferably while using sterile dressing or a clean non-fluffy cloth.
Secure the wound with a bandage and make sure its tightness doesn’t restrict circulation by pressing a nail on the skin of the victim near the bandage until it becomes pale. If the colour doesn’t return within to seconds after removing the nail, the bandage requires loosening.
Change the bandage if it starts to get soaked in blood.
The victim might develop shock from the blood loss, and that’s why raising their legs above the level of the heart and supporting them might be needed. Tight or restrictive clothing should also be loosened and a blanket for warmth and comfort should cover the victim.
Burns or Scalds can be easily noticed because of the specific wounds: skin tissue subjected to heat can appear darker and pinker, and in more serious situations, it will present blisters or callouses.
Cool the affected area with running water(and nothing else) till the pain ceases.
If the size of the wound is large, you may trigger hypothermia(especially in babies, children or elders), so don’t cool the area for a prolonged period of time.
Carefully remove any clothing or jewellery from the wounded area while cooling the injury.
If the burn has cooled, cover it loosely with cling film or, if film is not available, a dry, clean dressing or a non-fluffy material.
Do not apply any other substances on the injury(such as creams, lotions or sprays).
Chemical burns are damage to the bodies tissue caused by a harsh or corrosive substance. Chemical burns can be inflicted on skin, eyes or, in the case of ingesting the substance, inside of your body.
Avoid coming in to contact with the chemical: wear protective gloves, eye protection and an apron if available.
If the accident occurred inside and it is possible, ventilate the zone by opening windows. Removing the casualty from the room is recommended if it is achievable. Remove clothing, as it could be contaminated. If the substance is in powder form, extract it of the skin carefully. If its safe, seal the chemical in to a container.
Administer cool or lukewarm running water to the injury until the ambulance arrives to, disperse the chemical and stop it burning. When cooling, pour the water away from yourself to avoid being hit by any chemical splashes. Ensure any contaminated water does not collect near the casualty.
Carefully remove contaminated clothing. If there is another able person around, you can continue to administer the running water while they deal with the items on the victim.
Monitor the casualty’s response level during the entire process.
Choking occurs when the airway is partly or completely obstructed. It can manifest as a disturbed ability to speak, breath or cry, and in severe conditions, a complete inability followed by a possible loss of conscience.
If chocking is mild, encourage the victim to cough or try to spit out the object to disperse the obstruction.
Do not enter their mouth with your hand if you can’t see the object, as it can be logged further down.
If choking is severe and the victim is an adult, administer back blows:
Stand behind the person and slightly to one side. Support their chest with one hand. Lean the person forward so the object blocking their airway will come out of their mouth, rather than moving further down.
Hit them firmly on their back with the heel of your hand between the shoulder blades five times.
If they are still choking, give up to five abdominal thrusts(hold around the waist and pull inwards and upwards above their belly button).
Do not give abdominal thrusts to babies under one year old or to pregnant women.
If your victim belongs to one of these groups:
Stand behind the person who is choking.
Place your arms around their waist and bend them well forward.
Clench one fist and place it just above the person's belly button.
Place your other hand on top of your fist and pull sharply inwards and upwards.
Repeat this up to five times.
The aim is to get the obstruction out with each chest thrust, rather than necessarily doing all 5.