First Aid Procedures for Some Emergency Situations
First aid is the first help or treatment that a sick or injured person gets. First aid has its importance and significance in every field of life. You cannot deny the importance of first aid training. If you are trained in first aid procedures then you can be very helpful not only for yourself but for the whole society as well. That is why many workplaces now demand their employees to be trained in first aid procedures so that they can be helpful citizens and workers.
You cannot avoid emergency situations. The only way to deal with these situations in a better way is to get you trained. There are many institutes that offer first-aid training certifications. You can get yourself enrolled in any of these programs in physical or online classes.
ABC of First Aid Training
If someone is going through some health emergency or an injury, then the basic first aid procedure that you should perform as a first step is known as the ABC of first aid. It is defined below.
- A stands for Airway: first, you have to look at the victim carefully and assess the airway. There should be no blockage in the airway; otherwise, the victim will have difficulty breathing. Therefore, look carefully for any symptoms of a blocked airway.
- B stands for Breathing: this means that you should make sure that the victim is breathing properly. If you are sure that the airway is clear but still the patient is not breathing, then immediately provide rescue breathing.
- C stands for Circulation: when you are performing rescue breathing, do chest compressions as well so that the blood will circulate properly around the body. If the heart has stopped, then also perform chest compressions to provide circulation around the body.
Emergency First Aid Procedures
Following are given steps that you can perform to help the victim in certain emergency situations.
- First Aid Procedure for a Stopped Heart
If you have realized on checking the patient that his heart is not beating, then you should immediately perform CPR. CPR is cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It is a very important procedure that you must learn while getting first aid training.
If a person’s heart is not working, he could die. Performing CPR immediately in this situation can help to save a person’s life. In case of a person with a stopped heart or cardiac arrest, you should perform the following steps.
- First, call the emergency first aid services and ask them to send the ambulance ASAP.
- Next, you should start doing chest compressions on the affected person. You have to press down hard at the center of his chest. Push and compress the chest then leave to let the chest come back naturally. Repeat the procedure several times. If you are a trained person, you will make the heart work after several compressions.
- You can also use AED to perform chest compressions. It is a device that is used to do CPR.
- First Aid Procedures for Bleeding
When you have encountered a patient with bleeding, first you have to know the kind of bleeding. Blood leaves our body in many different ways depending upon the source from where it is coming. The color of blood and the way of leaving the body can give you an idea about the severity of an injury.
The blood coming out of the capillaries is in the form of a trickle. This kind of bleeding usually stops after some tie.
Blood that is dark red in color and it is flowing constantly is the blood coming out of the veins. This kind of bleeding can be mild or severe.
Blood that is bright red in color and flowing in the form of a gush is the blood coming from the arteries. Arteries are the largest blood vessels containing a huge amount of oxygen which is why a bleeding artery will cause heavy loss of blood.
You can do the following steps in case of bleeding.
- First, wash your hands properly and then put on surgical gloves if you have them with you in your first aid box.
- Rinse the wound properly with water.
- Cover the wound with gauze or a clean cloth.
- Now start applying pressure directly on the wound to stop bleeding or prevent clotting.
- Try to keep the bleeding body part at an elevated position from the head of the patient.
- If the bleeding has stopped, put a bandage on the wound.
- First Aid Procedure for a Broken Bone
Any injury that happens to the limbs, hands, or feet should be considered and treated as a broken bone. First aid procedures can help to steady the bone until the arrival of medical assistance. Perform the following steps for a broken bone.
- First, make sure that you never try to straighten the limb or the affected bone.
- Keep the affected limb elevated and support it with padding.
- Place a cloth or towel on the affected area and then place a cold pack. Never place the cold pack directly on the skin.
- You can give an anti-inflammatory drug to the patient to help relieve the pain.
- You should make sure that the person does not have certain medical conditions before giving them any kind of painkiller.
Last Comments
First aid training is very important to help the person deal with emergency situations. It can be very helpful for you, your loved ones, and for society as well. First aid can help to save people’s lives and makes you a valued person in society.