Why is first aid important?
It is better to know first aid and not need it than to need first aid and not know it
First aiders do NOT diagnose
Who needs first aid?
Intentional and unintentional injuries constitute a major threat to public health and are referred to as the neglected epidemic.
4 Minute delay
a delay of as little as XX when a person's heart stops can mean death
Value of Self
Allows one to care for his or her injuries.
Allows one to direct others in proper care if they are too seriously injured.
Helps develop safety awareness and promote injury prevention.
Value of Others
Allows the trained person to offer proper assistance to family members, coworkers, acquaintances, and strangers.
Value in remote areas
Some settings demand that people be prepared to give first aid for an extended time:
-Urban areas after a disaster
-Remote occupations
-Remote communities
-Developing countries
Extra skills are sometimes required when delivering first aid in remote locati
First Aid
the immediate, temporary care given to an ill or injured person until professional medical care can be provided
Does NOT take place in proper medical care
First Aid and Law
A first aider can be sued, but the risk can be minimized.
-Obtain the victim's consent.
-Follow the guidelines in Advanced First Aid, CPR, and AED.
-Do not exceed your training level.
-Explain any first aid you are about to give.
-Once starting to care fo
Consent
Consent is permission that the victim must give before first aid can be given.
-It is unlawful to begin first aid without the victim's consent.
-Touching another person without his or her consent is known as battery.
Expressed Consent
Consent must be obtained from every alert, mentally competent person of legal age.
A nod of the head or verbal indication is acceptable.
Implied Consent
It is assumed or implied that an unresponsive victim would consent to lifesaving interventions.
An alert victim who does not resist the administrations of a first aider is also assumed to have given implied consent.
Consent: Children and Mentally Incompetent Adults
It is assumed or implied that an unresponsive victim would consent to lifesaving interventions.
An alert victim who does not resist the administrations of a first aider is also assumed to have given implied consent.
A police officer is the only person wit
Refusing Help
An alert and mentally competent adult can reject help. If this happens:
explain his or her condition to the victim, what you intend to do, and why it is necessary.
call 9-1-1.
try again to persuade the victim to accept care.
make sure you have witnesses o
Abandonment
Once you have responded to an emergency, you must not leave a victim who needs continuing first aid until another competent and trained person takes responsibility for the victim.
Negligence
Failure to follow the accepted standards of care, resulting in further injury to the victim
Having a Duty to Act
You do not have to help a stranger unless you have a legal obligation to that person, or you were involved in the events that led to the victim's injuries.
You have a duty to act if you...
-are designated by your employer as the person responsible for pro
Omission
is the failure to do what a reasonably prudent person with the same or similar training would do in the same or similar circumstances.
Commission
is doing something that a reasonably prudent person would not do under the same or similar circumstances.
Confidentiality
Only discuss information about the victim with those who have a medical need to know.
The law requires reporting rape, abuse, and gunshot wounds.
Good Samaritan Laws
Encourage people to assist others in distress by granting them immunity against lawsuits.
Good Samaritan laws protect the rescuer:
-acting during an emergency.
-acting in good faith with good intentions.
-acting without compensation.
-not guilty of malici
Injury Prevention
It is easier to prevent an injury than it is to treat one.
Effective prevention uses a combination of the 3 Es.
Education interventions attempt to change behavior through information.
Enforcement tries to reduce dangerous behaviors through the enforcement
Haddon Matrix
Strategy for identifying interventions; can be applied to any type of illness or injury
-Preevent phase: Interventions that attempt to stop or hinder
-Event phase: Interventions that attempt to modify the consequences
-Postevent phase: Focuses on returnin
Preevent phase
Interventions that attempt to stop or hinder
Event phase
Interventions that attempt to modify the consequences
Postevent phase
Focuses on returning the victim to the fullest of functioning
Victim Assessment
is a sequence of actions that helps determine what is wrong.
Primary Check determines
will determine if:
-there is illness or injury.
-whether the victim is responsive or unresponsive.
-if a life-threatening condition exists
Assessment Steps
Scene size-up
Primary check
Secondary check
SAMPLE history
Reassessment
Scene Size-up
-Look for hazards.
-Notice the potential for violence.
-Be observant of weapons.
-Reduce exposure to potentially dangerous body substances.
-Determine whether the problem is an injury or an illness
Primary Check
Identify life-threatening conditions so that you can immediately take action to treat the conditions.
-Responsiveness
-Circulation
-Breathing
-Severe bleeding
Alert Victim's Memory
Evaluate ability to remember
-What is your name?
-Do you know where you are?
-What are the month and year?
-What happened
Unresponsive Victim
RAP-CAB
R-Responsive
A-Activate Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
P-Position the victim on his or her back
C-CPR; start with 30 chest compressions if the victim is not breathing
A-Airway; open airway
B-Breaths; give two breaths and continue CPR
Responsive Victim
RAP-ABC
R-Responsiveness
A-Activate EMS
P-Position
A-Airway
B-Breathing
C-Circulation
Checking for breathing
Chest movement
Normal and abnormal breath sounds
Feeling adequate air movement
Checking for Severe Bleeding
Check for a large amount of blood.
-Around the victim
-On the victim's clothing
Control bleeding.
Wear exam gloves.
Positioning the victim
Most victims should not be moved.
Exceptions:
-Unsafe location
-Victim is face down and needs -CPR.
-Victim has difficulty breathing from vomit or secretions.
-First aider is alone and must leave to get help.
High arm in endangered spine (HAINES)
Keep left arm straight, extended above the head with upper part of the arm next to the head.
Bring right arm across the chest.
Place back of right hand against the left cheek and hold it there.
Bend the far leg at the knee and pull the bent leg to roll th
Left Side Advantages
Keeps the airway open
Delays vomiting
Delays a poison's effect
Relieves pressure on a pregnant woman's vena cava
Secondary Check Determines
Determine whether the cause or mechanism of injury was significant.
Assume a victim with a head injury also has a spinal injury.
Secondary Check responsive Victim
Ask if he or she can feel or wiggle the fingers and toes.
Secondary Check Unresponsive Victim
Check spinal cord with Babinski reflex test.
Signs
See
Feel
Hear
Smell
Symptoms
Things the victim feels
Things the victim can describe
Chief complaint
DOTS
Deformity
Open Wounds
Tenderness
Swelling
Finding the significant cause of injury
Check the head.
Check eyes (PERRL).
Check the ears.
Check the nose.
Check the mouth.
Check the neck.
Check the chest.
-Gently press inward.
Check the abdomen.
-Gently press on all four quadrants.
Check pelvis.
-Gently press inward on tops of hips.
-Press
Skin condition
Color
Temperature
Moisture
Hot and Dry or Moist skin
Excessive Body heat (heat stroke, high fever)
Cool and Moist (clammy) skin
Poor circulation, hear exhaustion, shock, acute stress reaction
Cold and moist skin
body is losing heat
Cold and dry skin
exposure to cold and has lost considerable heat (hypothermia)
Pink skin
normal color in non-pigmented areas regardless of skin complexion - lining of the eyelids, inside mouth, fingernail beds
Red (flushed) skin
dilated blood vessels; excess circulation to that part of the body
White (pale)
Constricted blood vessels from blood loss, shock, hypothermia, emotional distress
Blue (cyanosis) skin
lack of oxygen in the blood from breathing or heart problems
Yellow (jaundice)
liver disease or failure
Capillary refill test
Press fingernail or toenail for a few seconds and release.
Exposed Injury
Explain what you are doing.
Maintain privacy.
Prevent exposure to cold.
Medical Identification
Check the following for
Wallet
Purse
Necklace
Bracelet
SAMPLE History
symptoms, allergies, medications, past medical history, last oral intake, events leading up to the illness or injury
Recheck
Serious illness or injury: every 15 minutes
Unresponsive victim: at least every 5 minutes
Triage
process of prioritizing multiple victims
-immediate care
-delayed care
-"walking wounded"
-dead