The importance of first aid means the aware of the importance of knowing first aid in an emergency. Knowing how we have to react in an unexpected moment can help save lives. Emergencies can occur at any time, whether to a person who has suffered a choking, a victim who has had a traffic accident or a person who has suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest.
Knowing the importance of first aid is important to know what measures to take in an emergency. These will vary depending on the needs of the victim or the knowledge of the first aider who is going to provide help. A poorly applied technique can be very dangerous because of more harm than benefits. So, act only if you know how to do it.
The purpose of First Aid, therefore, is to acquire basic knowledge that allows, as far as possible, to stabilize the patient and alleviate pain and anxiety until they can be attended to by specialized health personnel. Read the muniriyathse (safety zone) blog.
First aid skills and the importance of first aid
In any accident or eventuality, one of the techniques to save the life of the affected person is the ABC and PAS these acronyms are the initials of the words ABC – Airway, breathing and circulation, PAS – Protect, Alert and save, and these three words are a road map with which the lifeguard addresses the emergency.
ABC Technique in First Aid
Do you know the ABC technique of first aid?
When the victim of an accident is unconscious, the best thing to do is to follow the ABC (Airway, Breathing, Circulation) technique, which consists of:
A – Airway opening
B – Breathing conformation
C – Circulation conformation
Airway
When the person is unconscious, sometimes the position of the tongue can block and obstruct the airway so that air does not enter correctly. One of the most used methods in first aid is the forehead-chin technique. The most appropriate is to place the victim face up, gently tilting the forehead back and raising the jaw to facilitate breathing.
Breathing:
- Hear: search for breath by bringing your ear close to the victim’s mouth.
- Feel: check if we feel the victim’s air on our face.
Circulation:
Once you have confirmed they are breathing, check the signs of bleeding. Assess circulation by the victim’s appearance (sweating, paleness, bluish skin colour). Stop external bleeding.
Basic principles of first aid in saving the life
3 fundamental steps must be applied, in order, when provide help to an injured person. This procedure, known as PAS, consists of the following points:
Protect:
The first thing to keep in mind is to stay calm but act quickly. This not only reassures the victim but also the people around. Before acting, we must be sure that both the injured and the rescuer are out of danger. Take the appropriate self-protection measures (put on gloves, use face shields, etc.), whenever possible.
Alert:
After having ensured the victim in the first step, relevant and detailed information on what happened must be notified and given to the relevant professionals for their prompt intervention. Whenever necessary, we will notify the emergency rescue team.
If we are in the workshop report to a supervisor, as well as the management team. In general, you have to report to the emergency contact number as soon as possible, requesting the necessary resources such as ambulances, firefighters, local police etc.
To communicate an accident or alert, always indicate: – the exact location of the incident: the direction of the accident (in case of a traffic accident) Street, and Possible references (next to … in front of …)
In an emergency, it is advisable to report the number of people involved, if possible, and the type of injuries or symptoms they present. Take into account the type of accident and if there are circumstances that could aggravate the situation: risk of fire, explosion, the existence of corrosive products, etc.
Verify that the information provided has been received correctly; you should, therefore, repeat the message, and never hang up until they tell you OK.
Save:
Caring for the victim is the last step, however, first, the severity of the injury must be assessed to later determine if first aid can be used or if professional assistance is needed. Once we have protected and alerted, we will proceed to determine the status of the injured. First, the victim should be calmed and told that help is on the way. You can talk to the injured or sick even if he does not respond or is unconscious.
Determine the possible injuries that present, to establish priorities for action and precautions that must be taken to not worsen the situation. If there are several accident victims, make a quick assessment, or a composition of place, to establish the priority order of action.
Those persons presenting cardiac or respiratory difficulties, severe haemorrhages or multiple injuries will be preferred. You should know, many times, that the victim who screams the most is not the most serious. As a rule, do not move not to move the victims in this first phase in which we still do not know what time of injuries may occur. We must know how to wait for the arrival of the rescue services.
What are the roles of a first aider during an emergency
After knowing the theory of first aid and having the basic, intermediate and advanced courses, it must be remembered that some techniques are very important to understand to provide first aid, which are:
- Keep calm.
- Perform ABC technique
- Know what the PAS is.
- Take care of your breath
- Stop bleeding if it exists.
- Practice cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED.
On the other hand, if the emergency is a cardiorespiratory arrest:
- Apply CPR, which tells us how to act in case of suffocation.
- Have a first-aid kit to deal with any accident.
In case of bleeding:
If it is possible to identify the existence of an external haemorrhage, the wound should be directly compressed with gloves and cloth, in addition, keeping part of the body where the haemorrhage is raised, having it elevated helps to reduce blood pressure and thus reduces the haemorrhage.
In case of choking:
If a person presents asphyxia, which occurs due to a lack of breathing, it is advisable to apply the HEIMLICH technique, also called abdominal compression. The first aider stands behind the person placing their arms around the waist, adjusts the fist with the thumb inward above the person’s navel and with the other hand grasps the first firmly, presses the fist with Force upwards to increase airway pressure behind forcing out of the trachea.
In case of cardiorespiratory arrest
One of the most important application techniques in First Aid is CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) known as the lifesaving technique. With this technique, the rescuer will try to restore the vital functions, momentarily interrupted by a cardiorespiratory arrest (in which someone’s breathing or heartbeat has stopped).
The CPR that is applied in First Aid is known as basic life support and consists of manual chest compressions and insufflation of exhaled air into the lungs. On this occasion, we perform CPR manoeuvres in adults, which consist of 20 chest compressions and 2 breaths.
Adult CPR compression rate
Do not approach if the scene is not safe (risk of poisoning by toxic gases, electrocution, fire, explosion, etc.) Wait for the emergency service to arrive. Perform 20 uninterrupted compressions. You have to do between 100 compressions per minute. Evaluate the victim and, if there is no recovery, continue compressions.
How to do compressions correctly
- Kneel to the side of the victim’s chest (either side) and place the heel of one of your hands over the centre of the chest, on the sternum.
- Place your other hand on top of the first, making sure not to touch the victim’s ribs with your fingers (keep them raised and interlocked).
- Advance your shoulders so that they are directly over the victim’s sternum. Keep your arms straight and use your body weight to transfer pressure to your hands. The sternum of the person served must descend at least 5 cm.
- He then completely releases the compression on the sternum without removing his hands to allow the chest to return to its resting position and the heart to fill with blood.
Between compressions, keep your hands interlocked without removing them from your sternum. The compression and relaxation phases must be of equal duration.
AED (automated external defibrillator)
It is a portable electronic device that diagnoses and can help restore heart rhythm when a person is in cardiac arrest. Defibrillation consists of emitting a direct current impulse to the heart, to try to get it to resume its normal rhythm. In the case of assisting a person in cardiac arrest, if an AED is available in the immediate vicinity, use it as soon as it is available.
Steps to follow
While someone does CPR, another prepares the AED.
- Push the start button and follow the instruction
- If it indicates that a shock needs to be performed, first make sure that no one is touching the victim. If you handle the DEA, you must alert the rest of the people out loud.
- Then press the download button and follow the instructions on the device until medical help arrives or the victim recovers.
What are 20 items in a first aid box?
These first-aid kits have different amounts of elements, first-aid kits are generally used in a bag or box that serves to transport the necessary elements, and they are also found in fixed medicine cabinets. It is important to know that these bags or boxes where the elements are stored must be identified with the word FIRST AID KIT so that employees know where it is located.
- First-aid manual
- Sterile gauze
- Cloth adhesive tape
- Latex gloves
- Elastic bandage
- Laminated cotton bandage
- Povidone-iodine
- Saline solution
- Antiseptic alcohol
- Acetaminophen
- Aluminium hydroxide
- Aspirin
- Acetaminophen
- Mask
- Antibiotic cream
- Disposable instant cold packs
- Scissors
- Sterile eyewash
- Anti-diarrhoea medication
- Mouthpiece for administering CPR
To guarantee the good condition of the first aid kit, it must be inspected monthly. If any element was used, a form must be filled out indicating which element was used and what it was used for. In the same way, each company must have a request form and check for items with expiration dates and replace them.
Conclusion
First aid is the technique that is provided in a company when the worker has an accident or when some type of emergency occurs in the workplace. It should be noted that first aid is not as easy as it seems to be, many techniques must be taken into account to save a life, especially in the five minutes after the accident. These are vital minutes to stabilize those affected.
Currently, companies in the area of Safety and Health at Work must implement an Emergency Plan, and staff must be trained in first aid. On the other hand, organizations must have a record of the personal and medical information (if applicable) of each of the workers and staff.
Finally, it is important to highlight the importance of first aid to be able to deal with any type of emergency and react to any eventuality. It is also of vital importance to carry out periodic drills to identify weaknesses in the reaction and strengthen points that have not yet been deepened within the organization.
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