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In
every first aid situation, before doing anything else, you must be sure
that there is no further hazard threatening you are the casualty.
Take care of the hazard first, or get yourself and the casualty away from
it. You can be of no help to anyone if you are injured or dead.
SAFETY FIRST
Let us imagine a situation that easily may happen to you and see how
you react to it.
Imagine that you are traveling through a snowstorm, hardly able to
see and one of your companions drives his snowmobile off a cliff as high
as a house. You find him unconscious. You must think clearly,
for if you act quickly but wrongly you may further injure him or even kill
him. If you think about it too long before doing anything, he may
also die. How do you make yourself think clearly in these moment
of crisis? What do you do to prevent quick death?
Good first id requires a Priority Action Approach. This
means that you take care of the most life-threatening things first
then to the less critical problems.
It helps to have some method, and one of the most common is to use
the first letters of the alphabet - ABCDEF's - as
clues.
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A = Airway and cervical spine
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B = Breathing
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C = Circulation - bleeding
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D = Disability
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E = Expose and Examine
-
F = Freezing (cold injure)
And to this list, we should always ass the "S" for shock, since it may
be present in any serious injure or illness.
So here you are, standing by the unconscious casualty and you think, "What
do I do now? Oh yes. - the ABCDEF's Priorities first.
One step at a time. So you start with A
A = Check his/her airway. Is it open? is there anything
blocking his mouth (packed snow or blood for example)? Clear it away.
Is his/her tongue falling back blocking his/her throat? To open the
airway, move his/her lower jaw upward without moving his/her neck.
Assessment of the Cervical Spine is important. To determine
the possibility of injure not how the injury happened, what the conscious
casualty tells you, and carefully feel his/her back for deformity or tenderness..
Immobilize the neck with a cervical collar or improvised collar.
B = Be sure he/she is Breathing. Remember, he/she
may only live 4 minutes if he/she is not! Put your ear down next to his/her
lips. Listen for breath, feel it on your ear or cheek, watch his/her chest
rise or fall. If he/she is not breathing, start rescue breathing
immediately. See Page "Respiration (Breathing).
C = Check his/her Circulation. Does he/she have a pulse?
Tthe pulse in the neck (carotid pulse) is easiest to check, because it
is strongest and you can usually slip your fingers in the neck area without
removing clothing and rising frostbite. (See "How to Read a Pulse" page).
If there is not pulse, and you have CPR cardiopulmonary resuscitation training,
start CPR. If his/her heart is beating and he/she is breathing, then check
nail bed test. (See " Nail Bed Test" page) to further assess circulation.
Wearing latex or vinyl gloves (vinyl gloves are preferred re: allergies),
check for severe bleeding. Slide a hand beneath him/her feeling
for the wetness of blood. You must be sure that he/she is not bleeding
from a point you can not see. If he/she is bleeding badly, you must
stop it.
D = Check for Disability. Check his/her level of consciousness
( See "Level of Consciousness" page). Record your findings. If you
suspect a neck or head injury, immobilize the neck immediately with a cervical
collar or anything you may come up with, but make sure the neck and head
are completely immobilized. Feel carefully underneath the casualty for
any obvious bumps, irregularities, or tenderness in the spine indicating
damage. Shock is a life-threatening disability. If the casualty
shows or is likely to show the signs and symptoms of shock, begin treatment
immediately. (See
"Shock" page)
E = EXPOSE and
EXAMINE. If the environment permits, bare as much of the body
as possible to look for bleeding and injuries.
F= Prevent FREEZING. Cover him/her
to keep him/her warm and get something between him/her and the snow or
the cold ground. He sure that his/her hands and feet are protected.
Protect him/her from the wind and from moisture as soon as possible.
S= Prevent SHOCK. (See
"Shock" page)
Next: Rescuer
Safety |
