Introduction to First Aid

Introduction to First Aid

• First aid is the initial assistance given to a person who is injured or suddenly becomes ill, by a layperson.
• First aid is comprised of simple techniques that can be performed with rudimentary equipment.
• First aid is performed until professional medical assistance arrives.
• Medical aid is the treatment by a prepared medical team.

First Aiders

• First aiders are individuals who respond to emergencies and help people who are at harm.
• Examples of first aiders include police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical team (EMT).

Aims of First Aid

• Save life.
• Provide reassurance and comfort to the ill or injured person.
• Prevent further injury or worsen the situation.
• Minimize or prevent infection and promote rapid recovery.

First Aid Priorities

• Assess the situation quickly and calmly.
• Protect yourself and any casualties from danger - never put yourself at risk.
• Prevent cross-contamination as possible.
• Comfort and reassure casualties.
• Assess the casualty: identify, as best as you can, the injury or nature of illness affecting a casualty.
• Give early treatment and treat the casualties with the most serious (life-threatening) conditions first.
• Arrange for appropriate help : call for 123 emergency help if you suspect serious injury or illness.
• Take or send the casualty to the hospital, or to a higher level of available medical care.
• Stay with a casualty until emergency personnel arrive.

First-Aid Kit

• It must be in every place like home, the car, the workplace.
• Keep it in an easily accessible, well-known and dry place.
• Check it regularly.
• Should include the items that are used on a regular basis.

Equipment and Supplies in First Aid Kit

• Dressing: (sterile, applied directly to the wound)
  • Sterile eye pads
  • Sterile gauze pads
  • Sterile non-adherent pads (A non-stick dressing)
• Bandages: (for securing dressings, not necessarily sterile)
  • Gauze roller bandages - absorbent, breathable
  • Elastic bandages - used for sprains, and pressure bandages
  • Triangular bandages used as slings, tourniquets, to tie splints, and many other uses
  • Tubular bandages
• Useful Additional Items
  • Disposable gloves, Hand sanitizer, Face mask
  • Thermometer, Emergency blanket
  • Tourniquet
  • Instant cold pack
  • Gauze pads, Cotton pads
  • Adhesive tape (band-aids, sticking plasters)
  • Splints in different sizes
  • Scissors & tweezers
  • Safety pins, Flashlight
• Medications
  • Analgesic
  • Antihistaminic
  • Local antiseptics, antibiotics, antiallergic
  • NOTE the expiry date & read instructions
• Safety regulations at the scene of emergency
  • If inside, watch for dangers such as construction debris, unsecured weapons, violent individuals, electrical hazards.
  • If outside, watch out for downed electrical wires, leaking fuel from car accidents, building collapse, or natural disaster dangerous weather conditions. (Drowning persons should be removed from the water and dried off; they should also be removed from standing water.)
  • Be sure you do not become injured yourself.

Prevention of Cross Infection

• Wash hands before and after helping a person with injury.
• Cover abrasions.
• Use disposable gloves, mask as needed.
• Don’t breathe over the wound.
• Use a face mask to give breath.
• Don’t prick your hands with needles.
• Immunize against hepatitis.
• Dispose of waste safely.

This quiz covers essential concepts of first aid, including techniques, roles of first aiders, and the aims and priorities when responding to emergencies. Test your knowledge on how to provide effective assistance until professional help arrives.