First aid is the emergency treatment provided to the patient before the medical personnel arrive. It can be anything from giving mouth to mouth resuscitation to putting and ice pack on a swollen ankle. In any first aid situation the provider must remain calm assess the emergency situation in order to take the correct form of action.
Call 911
Call 911. The first step of any first aid treatment should be calling the emergency health care providers and informing them of the situation. Then the first aid provider can turn to the victim in order to assess and stabilize the situation.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
Check the victim for consciousness. If the victim is not conscious check for airway obstruction and give mouth to mouth resuscitation. If needed and if the first aid administrator has the necessary training cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can be given.
Do not Move the Victim
A seriously injured person should never be moved from his position. This is to ensure any internal injuries are not made worse. The uninjured person should always check the victim to ensure he is breathing and then must take care of any visible injuries.
Medication
Never give the patient any medication. The basic action any first aid treatment takes is to control the situation and ensure there is nothing fatally wrong with the injured person. Any open wounds must be bound via a tourniquet and the first aid provider should merely ensure the victim is stable. Medication and any other form of help should be provided by trained medical personnel to ensure there are no interactions with any preexisting condition the victim may have.
Information
Get all the information possible. Regardless of the situation, if you have a pen and paper handy ask the victim her name, address and phone number so that when the medical personnel arrive you can provide them with the information. The more information the have the better and faster the treatment that can be given.
Wounds and Bleeding
The first priority in situations where there is an open wound is to stop the bleeding. Take a clean dressing from a first aid box or any clean cloth available and put it firmly in place over the wound. The dressing should be kept in place or made thicker depending on how bad the wound is.
Protect Yourself
In dangerous or volatile situations like fires and gas leaks, the first step should be taking care of yourself. Ensure there is no threat to you and then take care of any victims. Ensuring the uninjured party remains calm and collected helps the situation to be controlled faster. If the victim has an open wound always ensure you sanitize your hands and then administer treatment. Gloves should be on if you have access to them. For broken bones the victim should be immobilized until emergency personnel come on the scene.
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