How to Give First Aid

Basic first aid is the initial assessment and treatment of an injured person, a person experiencing physiological difficulties due to choking, heart attack, drug allergy or other medical emergency. Basic first aid helps to quickly determine the body condition as well as the appropriate treatment process for the victim. While seeking help from a professional medical team as soon as possible is essential in all cases, performing the correct first aid procedure can make a life-or-death difference. Follow our full guide, or find specific instructions for the things listed above.

Table of Contents

Implement the 3C . Principle

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Watch and check the surrounding scene. Assess situation. Is there any danger for you? Are you or the victim threatened by fire, toxic gases or fumes, the risk of building collapse, power lines or other hazardous situations? Do not be in a hurry when you may also fall into the victim’s situation. ^{[1] X Research Source}

If approaching the victim could endanger you, seek professional help immediately. They are professionally trained and know how to handle these situations. First aid is useless if you can’t do it safely and without hurting yourself.

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Call. Call authorities or call 911 immediately if you think someone is seriously injured. If you are the only person at the scene, try to help the victim breathe before calling for help. Do not leave the victim alone for an extended period of time.

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Care for the victim. People who have just experienced serious trauma need care both physically and mentally. Stay calm and feel safe. Let the victim know help is coming and everything will be fine.

Caring for the Unconscious

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Determine the response. If a person is unconscious, try waking them up by gently rubbing their bare hands or feet or talking to them. If the victim is unresponsive to movement, sound, touch or other stimuli, you need to determine if they are still breathing.

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Check breathing and pulse. ^{[2] X Source of Study} If casualty is unconscious and cannot be awakened, check for breathing: look for swelling in chest area, listen for air coming in and out, feel for breath using one side of your face. If there are no obvious signs, check the pulse.

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If the person remains unresponsive, perform CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation). Unless a spinal cord injury is suspected, carefully roll the casualty to a supine position and open the airway. ^{[3] X Research Source <i>Survival, Evasion and Recovery</i> – US Military Field Manual FM 21-76-1 (1999)} In case the victim is still breathing and a spinal cord injury is suspected, leave the casualty alone. multiply in place. If vomiting begins, tilt the casualty to one side to avoid choking. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Keep your head and neck straight.
Holding the head, carefully roll the victim back to the supine position.
Open the airway by lifting the chin.

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Perform a cycle of 30 chest compressions and two breaths of CPR. In the center, just below the imaginary line that runs between the nipples, interlace your hands and press your chest down about 5 cm at a rate of 100 times a minute. After 30 compressions, give rescue breaths twice and check the victim’s condition. If choking, reposition airway. Make sure the head is tilted slightly back and that the tongue is not causing difficulty breathing. Continue the cycle of 30 chest compressions and two breaths until someone else takes your place. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Remember the first aid sequence ABC (Airway – airway, Breathing – respiration, Circulation – circulation) of CPR. They are three important factors you need to keep in mind. ^{[3] X Research Source <i>Survival, Evasion and Recovery</i> – US Military Field Manual FM 21-76-1 (1999)} Check these three factors regularly when performing first aid.

Airway. Is the victim choking?
Respiratory. Is the victim still breathing?
Cyclic. Are the major vessels (wrist, carotid, inguinal) pulsating?

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Keep victim warm while waiting for medical assistance. Place a towel or blanket over the casualty. If you don’t have one, you can also use your own items (such as a jacket) to keep the person warm until medical help arrives. However, if the patient has heatstroke, do not cover or keep warm. Instead, try to cool off with a fan and increase the humidity.

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Note the things to avoid. When giving first aid, memorize the do’s and don’ts in any of the following situations:

Give the unconscious person something to eat or drink. This can cause suffocation and suffocation.
Leave the victim alone. Unless you absolutely must move to alert or call for help, stay with the casualty at all times.
Give pillows to the unconscious person.
Slap or wake the unconscious person with water. They only work in movies.

Handling Common First Aid Problems

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Protect yourself from blood-borne pathogens. Bloodborne pathogens can cause illness and disease, threatening your own health and well-being. If a first aid kit is available, disinfect your hands and wear sterile gloves. If not available, protect hands with gauze or cotton. Avoid direct contact with the blood of others. If unavoidable, wash hands as soon as possible. Also, treat any remaining sources of infection.

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First, stop the bleeding. After determining that the victim is breathing and has a pulse, the next priority is to control bleeding, if any. This is one of the most important things you can do to save a victim of severe trauma. Apply pressure directly to the wound before trying any other methods of stopping bleeding. For more details, refer to our affiliate articles.

Treatment of bullet wounds. Bullet wounds are serious and unpredictable. Learn more about special precautions when dealing with people hit by bullets.

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Next, deal with the shock. Shock, which often results in hypovolemia, is common after physical trauma and sometimes in psychological trauma. People with shock often have cold skin, sweating, pale face and lips, nervous or unstable state. If left untreated, shock can lead to death. Anyone experiencing a serious trauma or life-threatening situation is at risk of shock.

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Bone fracture first aid. Typically, broken bones can be treated with the following steps:

Fix the broken area. Make sure the broken bone doesn’t have to move or support any part of the body.
Pain relief. Usually, you can do this by wrapping an ice pack and applying it to the wound.
Create splints. This can be done with just a stack of newspapers and strong duct tape. A broken finger can also be used as a splint with another finger.
Make a strap if necessary. Tie a shirt or pillowcase around the broken arm and drape it over your shoulder.

Handling Less Common First Aid Situations

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Help someone having a seizure. Seizures can be a terrifying experience for those who have never experienced them before. Fortunately, helping someone with a seizure is relatively simple.

Clear the surrounding space to prevent the victim from injuring himself. ^{[6] X Trusted Source Centers for Disease Contrp and Prevention Go to source}
Call 911 if the seizure lasts more than 5 minutes or the person stops breathing after that.
At the end of the convulsion, help the victim lie down on the floor and prop their head with something soft or flat. Lean over to make breathing easier, but don’t pin them down or try to stop them from moving.
Be friendly, reassure when the victim regains consciousness, and do not let the victim eat or drink until he is fully awake.

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Support someone going through a heart attack . Recognizing the symptoms of a heart attack, including heart palpitations, pain or tightness in the chest, overall discomfort or nausea, is very helpful. As soon as you give the patient an aspirin or niltroglycerin to chew, you need to get them to the hospital immediately.

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Identify the stroke situation. Again, being aware of the symptoms of a stroke is important. These include temporary loss of speech or language understanding, confusion, loss of balance or dizziness, severe headaches without warning, etc. Get someone you suspect a stroke to the emergency room right away.

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Treat poisoning. It can be the result of natural poisons (like being bitten by a snake) or chemicals. If the animal could be the cause of the poisoning, try to kill it (safely), put it in a bag and take it to a poison management center.

Advice

If possible, use latex gloves or other shielding to protect yourself from other people’s bodily fluids.
In the framework of this article, you can only learn much by reading the steps. Therefore, attend first aid and/or CPR training where possible – it will give you, the reader, the ability to learn through practice immobilizing fractures and dislocations, and dressing moderate to severe wounds. weight and even practice CPR. Thereby, you will be better prepared to support those in need. At the same time, the certificate issued will also protect you in the event of a lawsuit – Good Samaritan law will protect you in these cases, the certificate simply strengthens that protection.
If the victim is stabbed, do not move the object unless it is blocking the airway. This can easily aggravate the injury and bleeding. If you must, you should compact and hold the stabbing object firmly. ^{[3] X Research Source <i>Survival, Evasion and Recovery</i> – US Military Field Manual FM 21-76-1 (1999)}

Warning

Moving someone with a spinal cord injury can increase the risk of death or paralysis.
Never put yourself in danger! This may seem unhuman, but remember that being a hero, in this case, makes no sense if you yourself have to die.
If you’re not sure what to do, wait for professional treatment. If it is not a life-and-death situation, mishandling can endanger the victim. Review the training notes, in the tips section.
Do not move the victim. Unless there is immediate danger, moving could aggravate the situation. Wait for the ambulance to arrive and transfer the victim.
Giving aspirin to anyone under the age of 16 is dangerous because aspirin can damage the brain and kidneys, which can be life-threatening.
Do not touch the person who is being electrocuted. Turn off the power or use a non-conductive object (such as wood, dry branches, dry clothing) to disconnect the power source before touching the victim.
Never try to fix a broken or dislocated bone. Remember, this is first aid – when giving first aid, you are preparing to move the casualty. Unless you’re 110% sure of what you’re doing, chiropractic or repositioning a broken bone usually makes the situation worse.
Consent is required before touching the victim or providing any assistance! Check your local laws. Unauthorized first aid could get you sued. If someone asks “Don’t save”, respect that (see proof). If someone loses consciousness and is in danger of death or injury, and does not see any “Do Not Save” requests, proceed with treatment based on tacit consensus. If you’re not sure if the victim is conscious, tap them on the shoulder and ask “Are you okay? I know how to help” before administering first aid.

Steps