2. What is …..?
First Aid – the emergency care given to a
victim of an accident or a sudden illness,
required immediately and must continue
until advanced medical help is available.
Can be simple like helping someone clean and
bandage a minor wound to performing CPR until
EMS arrives.
CPR – cardiopulmonary resuscitation
3. General Principles of First
Aid
1. Never panic!
Take a few slow deep breaths and look around to
make sure the area is safe
Determine what resources are available and what is
needed (AED, splints, EMS…)
2. Evaluate the Situation
Check the victim’s level of consciousness, open the
victim's airway and check for breathing, check for
pulse and bleeding
3. Is the victim in a safe environment,
free from more danger?
4. General Principles of First
Aid
4. Determine the Priorities of treatment
Which condition requires the most immediate care
Urgent care for life – threatening situations:
stopped breathing, heart attack, shock, serious
wounds, poisoning, serious burns
Non-life threatening issues: fracture of arm or leg,
minor contusions or lacerations (know definitions
5. Decide what care is needed and do only
what you are trained to do
Good Samaritan Law
6. Call 911 or send for help
5. Life Threatening
Situations
Obstructed Airway, choking
(closed airway, stopped or not breathing)
When an object blocks the airway leading to the
lungs
Partial obstruction – some air can be moved. Do
not interfere with coughing or try to dig out the
object
Complete obstruction – no air can be moved.
Victim is suddenly unable to breathe, cough or
speak, clutches neck, or is struggling to breathe
6. Life Threatening
Situations
Obstructed Airway, choking
(closed airway, stopped or not breathing)
What to do for a conscious victim …
1. Ask “Are you choking?”
Observe victim coughing or wheezing. Do not interfere
if good air exchange is present
2. Give abdominal thrusts….
Videos
Adult conscious
Adult unconscious
Child
7. Life Threatening
Situations
Heart Attack
Early warning signs
Squeezing feeling in the chest,
pressure, or tightness
“feels like a band is around chest”
“feels like an elephant is sitting on my
chest”
Persistent discomfort that spreads
to the shoulders, arm, neck, jaw,
or across the chest
Sweating, nausea, vomiting,
shortness of breath, or feeling
faint
8. Life Threatening
Situations
Heart Attack
What do you do?
Call for advanced life support (EMS
or doctor depending on the
setting)
Get an AED
Monitor the symptoms until help
arrives.
Heart and breathing may stop and
the patient may need CPR
9. Life Threatening
Situations
Serious Wounds
Life threatening due to heavy bleeding
Bleeding that spurts is from an artery
Venous bleeding is also serious
Victim will bleed to death if the bleeding is not
controlled
10. Life Threatening
Situations
Serious Wounds
What to do……
1. Call or send for help
2. Follow procedures for preventing shock
3. Apply direct pressure with your gloved hand and
some type of dressing or gauze pad.
A shirt or towel will work if nothing else is available
4. Elevate the wounded area if you do not think
there are broken bones
5. if these do not work apply pressure to the
appropriate pressure point above and on the same
limb of the wound
6. If the dressing becomes saturated add dry
dressing over the saturated bandage
7. When bleeding is under control slowly release
the pressure point and lower the limb, but keep
direct pressure over the dressing
12. Life Threatening
Situations
Shock
Caused by major loss of body fluid or blood causing
the body cells and major organs to be deprived of
oxygen
A person can be appropriately treated for injury but
still die of shock because of the fluid or blood loss
14. Life Threatening
Situations
Poisoning
Ingestion, inhalation, absorption, or injection of a
harmful substance
Can cause sudden collapse, vomiting, and difficult
breathing
Look around the victim for possible causes of
poisoning as you are treating him or her
An unconscious victim may be convulsing or
vomiting which is why you lay the victim on their
side
16. Life Threatening
Situations
Burns
See page 299 for pictures of severity of burns
Severity of Burns
1st degree- superficial or surface burns
2nd degree – partial thickness, deeper or just below the
surface of the skin. Blistering occurs
3rd degree – full thickness, destroys both surface and
underlying tissue, destroys nerve endings so victim
may not feel pain in that area
Burns around the nose and mouth can mean the
airway is burned
18. Non-Life Threatening
Situations
Bone Fractures
Closed fracture – a broken bone that stays
inside the body
Symptoms – swelling, pain, change in the color of
the skin, deformity
Determine mechanism of injury – did they fall, did
something fall on them? Did they hear a “snap”?
Open Fracture – when the broken bones
comes through the skin
If possible splint the affected area and call
for medical assistance
19. Dressings and Bandages
Dressings cover wounds and help keep
infectious bacteria out
Dressings are used to apply direct
pressure to control bleeding
Bandages hold dressings in place
20. Dressings and Bandages
Principles of Bandaging
Always wear gloves and follow Standard Precautions
Never tie a bandage around the neck, taping is safer
The bandage needs to be tight enough to hold the
dressing in place but not tight enough to stop
circulation
Check skin temperature. If cold then bandage may be
cutting off circulation. You should be able to fit one
finger under the bandage
21. Dressings and Bandages
Principles of Bandaging
When applying these to arms or legs leave the finders
and toes exposed so that you can watch for
discoloration and swelling
Loosen bandages if the patient complains of
numbness or tingling
Do not remove dressing once it has been applied. If
blood soaks through, add another layer of dressings
and secure the bandage
22. Dressings and Bandages
Principles of Bandaging
Procedures
Copy the following procedures into your notes
Procedure 13.11 pg 302
Applying a splint
Procedure 13.14 pg 304
Circular bandaging of a small leg or arm wound
Procedure 13.15 pg 305
Spiral bandaging of a large wound
Procedure 13.16 pg 306
Bandaging of an ankle or foot wound