DRRM: Basic Life-Saving

• Basic Life Saving Seminar

  July 5, 2024
• First aid


  Immediate, temporary, and continuing care given to a casualty before professional emergency care becomes available
• First aid provider


  A person who takes charge of an emergency scene and gives first aid
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)


  Clothing and equipment used to protect the first aider and to minimize the risks of health and safety hazards when in contact with a casualty
• Sign


  Something that can be seen, felt, heard or smelt (e.g. bleeding, bruising, agonal breathing, skin discolouration)
• Symptom


  Something the casualty is feeling (e.g. nauseous, weakness, pain) and must tell you
• Signs you can see

  • Blood, deformity, bruising, unequal pupils, painful expression and/ or flinching, sweating, wounds, unusual chest movement, skin colour, swelling, foreign bodies, vomit, incontinence
• Signs you can hear

  • Noisy or distressed breathing, groans, sucking wounds (chest injury), bones scraping together, quality of speech
• Signs you can feel

  • Dampness, skin temperature, swelling, deformity
• Signs you can smell

  • Casualty's breath (fruity breath, acetone/nail polish breath, or alcohol), vomit, incontinence, gas fumes, burning, solvents or glue
• Symptoms the casualty may tell you about

  • Pain, fear, heat, cold, loss of normal movement, loss of sensation, numbness, tingling sensation, thirst, nausea, faintness, stiffness, feeling faint, weakness, memory loss, dizziness, sensation of a broken bone
• Injury


  When something from outside the body damages tissues, the damaged area is called an injury
• Goals of first aid (AP-PL-PI)

  • Alleviate pain and suffering
  • Prolong life or save limbs
  • Prevent added/further injuries or danger
• When to stop compression

  1. Stop if scene is unsafe

  2. Tired

  3. Okay ang patient

  4. Presence of Doctors
• Hierarchy of responsibility (D0C-EMT-RES-PRO-BYS)


  • Doctors or physicians
  • Emergency medical technicians (EMT)
  • First responders
  • First aid providers
  • Bystanders
• Good aid provider traits (GASTOR)

  • Gentle - calm demeanor, no further pain
  • Alert - wary of impending dangers
  • Sympathetic - comforting and understanding
  • Tactful - considerate and understanding, think twice
  • Observant - notice hidden signs
  • Resourceful - make best use of things at hand
• Emergency scene management (STEPS)

  1. Scene survey - take control of scene, find out what happened, make sure it's safe

  2. Primary survey - assess life threatening injuries/illnesses, call emergency number, give life-saving first aid

  3. Secondary survey - step-by-step of gathering casualty info/condition

  4. Ongoing casualty care - monitor the casualty's condition until medical help takes over
• Primary survey (CAB)


  1. Circulation - control obvious/severe bleeding. APPLY DIRECT PRESSURE. Check for shock through skin condition, check rapid body survey for hidden bleeding

  2. Airway - ASK RESPONSIVENESS - asking "hey, are you okay?". IF UNRESPONSIVE - head-tilt-chin-lift, IF SPINAL/HEAD INJURY - jaw-thrust without head-tilt IF TRAINED, move only when necessary

  3. Breathing - IF CONSCIOUS - ask how their breathing is. IF UNCONSCIOUS - check 5 sec min, 10 sec max
• Rapid body survey


  Quick assessment of the casualty's body which is performed during the primary survey. By running your hands over the casualty's entire body from head to toe, wear gloves, check gloves for blood, look at face to notice responses
• Secondary survey (HISTORY-VITALS-SKIN-HEADTOTOE-FIRSTAID)


  1. History (SAMPLE) - Symptoms, Allergies, Medications, Past/present Medical History, Last Meal, Events Leading to incident

  2. Vital signs - LOC (Level of Consciousness) - AVPU (responsiveness to stimulus), Breathing, Pulse

  3. Skin Condition - back of gloved hand for forehead and cheeks

  4. Head-to-toe exam - Detailed check for injuries. Speak through the process.

  5. First aid for any injury or illness found
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)


  Scene survey, assess responsiveness, call medical help, send for someone for an AED, Primary survey - C-A-B, Not breathing/agonal breathing - position your hands in the center of upper chest and your shoulders directly over your hands, locked elbows (CPR), 30 COMPRESSIONS - HARDER + FASTER, count aloud, no interruptions, allow complete chest recoil, 5-6cm, 2-2.4 inches, 100-120 bpm, chest compressions to ventilation ratio: 30:2
• Heart attack


  Occurs when an artery is blocked. Tissue dies
• Sudden cardiac arrest


  Ventricular Fibrillation - chaotic quivering but no heartbeat + breathing
• CPR for sudden cardiac arrest

  CPR - is for the brain. you start chest compression if no breathing, IF Flatline - CPR w CC (Chest Compression), CAB, COMPRESSION - push hard and fast at chest, AIRWAY - tilt head back and open their airway, BREATHING - give mouth to mouth rescue breaths
• Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) is not mainstreamed in our plans in the Philippines as of 2015
• There is a paradigm shift to do DRRM post-Haiyan and after the DRRM Act
• Tools and resources for DRRM were implemented nationally in the Philippines
• There are still many adjustments for DRRM offices, gaps and tools in the Philippines
• Change in administrations and policy and structure of local offices in the Philippines affected DRRM
• Capacity building for DRRM improved in general in the Philippines over time
• Systematic issues such as staff underregularization and underpaid were some of the main issues why DRRM still can't be done successfully in the Philippines
• Budget allotment and crew building is undermaintained if the official doesn't prioritize DRRM in the Philippines
• Lack of funding is a main problem for DRRM in the Philippines, also because of the discretion of funds
• Decentralization of the DRRM System was improved and prioritized in the Philippines over time
• Problems on lack of experts are witnessed in the Philippines for DRRM
• Because of the added layers of communications, DRRM is not efficient for fast-changing hazards like tsunamis or typhoons in the Philippines
• A much wider reach because of localization of DRRM in the Philippines
• Higher localizations of DRRM implementations and assessments in the Philippines, but the downside is that it might not be understood on local levels
• Lack of planning is a major oversight that a lot of Local Government Units (LGUs) have experienced in the Philippines, resulting in many people being killed in the process
• Educating people is important for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM)