First aid is emergency treatment given to a person who is injured or ill, before professional medical care arrives. Learning about first aid procedures may help you save someone’s life in an emergency.
What Are Some Basic First Aid Guidelines?
All drivers should have some knowledge of first aid procedures. To really know what you’re doing you need training in first aid. Here are some basic first aid guidelines for emergency situations.
- Quickly scan the scene and call 911.
- The person with the most experience should be in charge and give first aid.
- If more than one person is injured, care for the most seriously injured person first.
- Keep calm and act quickly, Speak in a normal tone of voice. Try not to worry the victim.
- Check that the injured person is breathing. Depending upon the situation, start mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
- Try to stop any serious bleeding as quickly as possible.
- Never move an injured person unless you must do so for their safety as moving an injured person can worsen the injury.
- A person who looks uninjured but is unable to move may have an injury to the spine. Do not try to move the person.
- Take precautions to protect yourself against exposure to an injured person’s blood or body fluids.
What Are Some Specific First Aid Procedures?
You should learn procedures for controlling bleeding, treating shock, and restoring breathing.
- Controlling Bleeding
Someone who is bleeding heavily or hemorrhaging, can die within minutes, so it’s very important to try to stop heavy bleeding immediately.
You can control heavy bleeding by applying direct pressure. Remember to wear protective equipment, such as disposable gloves. Put a clean cloth directly over the wound and press down firmly, use your gloved hand if necessary. Keep pressing without lifting your hand until medical help arrives.
Other means of stopping heavy bleeding are to apply arterial pressure or to use a tourniquet if you are fully trained to do so.
- Treating Shock
Serious injury, bleeding, or burns can cause shock. When a person is in a state of shock the blood does not circulate properly. As a result, the brain and other tissues fail to get enough oxygen. Shock can cause death if it is not treated.
A shock victim feels faint, weak, cold, and often nauseous. The person’s skin will feel cold and clammy and may look pale or blue. Breathing is irregular, and the pulse is weak and fast.
Keep the victim warm with a blanket or coat. Try to keep the body temperature near normal. Control any bleeding, and loosen tight clothing. Do not give them anything to eat or drink.
- Restoring Breathing
Two or three minutes without breathing can cause permanent brain damage. Six minutes without breathing can cause death by applying mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
- Place the person face up and clear the victim’s mouth with your fingers.
- Gently tilt the head backward, pushing the chin up. Using your thumb and index finger, pinch the victim’s nostrils closed.
- Put your mouth right over the victim’s mouth. Blow air into the victim’s mouth until you see the chest rise. Remove your mouth and let the air escape from the victim’s lungs while you take another breath.
- Repeat the procedure. You should blow air into an adult’s mouth at a rate of about 12 times per minute. For children, the rate should be about 20 times per minute. Continue until you are sure the victim is breathing independently or until medical help arrives.
What Items Should You Include in a First Aid Kit for Your Car?
Always keep a first aid kit in your car. The contents of the kit may enable you to save a life or enable someone else to save your life. A first aid kit can be bought in most stores. Check the contents of your first aid kit regularly and replace any items as needed.