FIRST AID

• First Aid


  Immediate help provided to a sick or injured persons until professional medical help arrives or become available
• Objectives of First Aid

  • To preserve life
  • Prevent further harm and complications
  • Seek immediate medical help
  • Provide reassurance
• Legal Concerns in First Aid

  • Consent
  • Duty to act
  • Standard of care
  • Negligence
  • Abandonment
  • Confidentiality
• Health Hazards and Risks

  • Herpes
  • Meningitis
  • Tuberculosis
  • Hepatitis
  • Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV)
  • Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
• Ways infectious diseases can spread

  • Direct contact
  • Indirect contact
  • Airborne transmission
  • Bites
• Emergency Action Principles

  • Scene safety
  • Knowing what happened (cause of injury, nature of illness)
  • Role of bystanders
  • Number of casualties
  • Asking permission or consent
• AVPU

  A = Alert, V = responsive to Voice, P = responsive to Pain, U = Unresponsive/Unconscious
• Call first


  If you are alone, it is important to know when to call during emergency, the situations are likely to be cardiac related, where time is critical factor
• Care first


  The situations or conditions often related to breathing emergency
• Airway


  An open airway allows air to enter the lungs for the person to breathe
• Breathing


  While maintaining an open airway, quickly check an unconscious person for doing the LLF technique for 10 seconds
• Circulation


  • Bleeding (look for severe bleeding by looking over the persons body from head)
  • Shock (if left untreated, shock can lead to death)
  • Skin color, temperature, and moisture (assessment can tell you)
• Secondary Assessment


  If an injured or ill person is not in an immediate condition, you can begin to check for other conditions that may need care
• SAMPLE approach

  • S = signs and symptoms
  • A = allergies
  • M = medications
  • P = past medication history
  • L = last intake and output
  • E = events leading up to the injury or illness
• Home Remedies for Fever

  Paracetamol, mefenamic acid (500 mg every 4 hours for adults, 15-20 mg per kilo over 4 hours for children)
• Home Remedies for Fever in Children

  • Lukewarm bath
  • Hydration
  • Ample rest
  • Resting in a cool place
• Types of Burns

  • Thermal
  • Electrical
  • Radiation
  • Chemical
• Degrees of Burns

  • First degree (skin surface, reddening, hot to touch)
  • Second-Degree (partial thickness, blister formation)
  • Third degree (full thickness, sloughing of the skin, exposure of the subcutaneous tissue and muscles)
• Burn Management

  • Remove the person from the source
  • Cool the burned area with running water for 20 minutes (do not use ice or iced water)
  • Keep the person warm, specially the unburnt areas
  • Cover the burn area with cling film (do not use bandage)
  • Do not peel off attached clothing
  • Do not puncture and peel off blisters
  • Seek hospital care if burn is severe (20-25% TBSA needs IV fluids, 30-45% TBSA could be fatal)
• Important things to remember for Falls

  • Never move the patient, especially with neck and back injuries
  • Observe and examine patient gently
  • Look for bleeding and deformities
  • Ask person extremities slowly
  • If unconscious, check ABC & if none apply CPR
• Falls Management

  • Rest
  • Immobilization
  • Cold compress
  • Elevation
• Warning Signs of Choking

  • Sudden episodes of wheezing
  • Gasping for air
  • Irritability
  • Coughing
  • Presence of toys or food in the vicinity
• Choking Management

  • Infant (hold by the ankle, head hanging straight down, open the mouth and pull tongue forward)
  • Older Children (hold child over lap and apply a slap using the heel of the hand between shoulder blades 5x)
  • Adults (Apply the Heimlich maneuver (abdominal thrust), Back blows by bending them forwards and deliver 5 blows between the shoulder blades, Encourage them to cough)
• Hypertension Home Management


  • Bring down blood pressure as quickly as possible (sublingual antihypertensive drug)
  • Do breathing exercise
  • Relax
  • Be comfortable and calm
  • Sit down
  • Take a warm bath or shower
  • Provide oxygen if available
  • Go to emergency room if BP still high
• Disease Transmission - The spread of a disease from one person to another.
• a patient’s response level can be summarized in the AVPU
• Primary Assessment

  I.Assessing Responsiveness

  II. Activate Medical Help

  III. Airway

  IV. Breathing

  V. Circulation
• Triage


  The evaluation and categorization of the sick or wounded when there are insufficient resources for medical care of everyone at once
• Triage


  • Historically believed to have arisen from systems developed for categorization and transport of wounded soldiers on the battlefield
  • Used in a number of situations in modern medicine
• Triage in mass casualty situations


  1. Decide who is most urgently in need of transportation to a hospital for care

  2. Decide whose injuries are less severe and must wait for medical care
• Triage in crowded emergency rooms and walk-in clinics


  Determine which patients should be seen and treated immediately
• Triage in a hospital


  Prevent an operation for an elective facelift from being performed if there are numerous emergent cases requiring use of operating facilities and surgical nursing staff
• START (Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment)


  A system for triage in a disaster or mass casualty situation, where victims are grouped into four categories depending on the urgency of their need for evacuation
• Categories in START


  • The deceased, who are beyond help
  • The injured who could be helped by immediate transportation
  • The injured with less severe injuries whose transport can be delayed
  • Those with minor injuries not requiring urgent care
• Advanced triage system


  Implemented by nurses or other skilled personnel, involving a color-coding scheme using red, yellow, green, white, and black tags
• Color-coded tags in advanced triage system

  • Red (immediate) - those who cannot survive without immediate treatment but who have a chance of survival
  • Yellow (observation) - those who require observation and possible later re-triage, their condition is stable for the moment
  • Green (wait) - the "walking wounded" who will need medical care at some point, after more critical injuries have been treated
  • White (dismiss) - those with minor injuries for whom a doctor's care is not required
  • Black (expectant) - the deceased and those whose injuries are so extensive that they will not be able to survive given the care that is available
• LLF - Look, Listen, Feel