FIRST AID
Introduction
First aid is temporary and immediate care given to a person who is injured or has suddenly
become ill, using facilities or material available at that time before regular medical care is
imparted.
It is performed with a limited skill range and is normally performed until injury or illness is
satisfactorily dealt with or until injury or until the next level care arrives or reached.
Definition
It is an emergency care and treatment of an injured person before complete medical care and
treatment can be secured
Help given to a sick or injured person until medical treatment is available
First aid is the first assistance or treatment given to a casualty or a sick person for any injury or
sudden illness before the arrival of an ambulance, the arrival of a qualified paramedical or
medical person or before arriving at a facility that professional medical care.
Principles
o Reach the site of accident as early as possible.
o Do not let the crowd gather around the victim as s/he needs fresh air.
o Don’t waste time asking unnecessary question.
o Find out the cause of injury.
o Find out whether the patient is dead or alive, conscious or unconscious.
o Determine the priority of first aid measures to be adopted e.g. restoration of cardiac
function, restoration of breathing and stop the bleeding from the site of injury etc.
o Make sure the client’s airway is clear/open; place victim in appropriate position.
o Check pulse and respiration. If breathing stops, immediately give artificial respiration.
o Check for bleeding, if there is bleeding, try to stop immediately.
o Be clam, quick and methodological. Assess and note all major injuries and wounds and
give first aid accordingly without losing patience and time.
o Prevent shock and arrange for transportation to health care facility.
o Keep the victim warm and do not move him/her unnecessary.
o The victim should be send to a hospital or doctor by quickest means of transportation.
Never send the victim alone.
o Always inform police about serious accidents.
o Remove any foreign bodies which can easily removed or wiped out.
o Loosen the tight clothing.
o Handel the victim gently in order to prevent harm.
o If the victim is conscious, reassure him.
General steps in first aid treatment of the victim
General steps of first aid treatment includes following points:
1. Assessment of the situation
o Help the victim until a doctor or more qualified person arrives.
o Be calm and take the full responsibilities. Establish good rapport with the victim,
listen to him and reassure him and family members so that victim feels secure with
confidence in the first aider.
o Ensure safety, while providing first aid, ensure safety of victim as well as ownself.
Considerations must be given to prevent others from becoming victims.
o Make use of volunteers. Try to get help from other doctors, nurses or any other
agencies, ambulance service of any hospital. Mobilize the by standers.
2. Assessment of victim
o Look at the victim for
Breathing or not
Cyanosis
Swelling, bleeding or deformity
Level of consciousness
Look surrounding for any containers, bottles, drug packet etc.
o Listen to
Breathing sound
By standers to know what happened.
If the victim is conscious, ask the victim about his condition.
o Smell
Note the smell of the victim breath and the surrounding e.g. any smell of
burning or smoke, gas, or alcohol in the area.
o Touch
The victim must be gently and carefully examined from head to toe for any
deformity, irregularity and tenderness.
3. Give immediate and appropriate treatment: treat the victim according to the principles of
first aid. There are three phases of treatment.
o Urgent treatment: clearing airway, artificial respiration, external cardiac massage.
o Important treatment: dressing of wound, support large wounds and fracture by using
splint or slings, putting victim in proper body alignment.
o Helpful treatment: Handling victim gently, protecting from cold, reducing pain and
discomfort, transfer to nearest health agency, report to appropriate authority.
o Refer the victim to the nearest doctor, hospital or home as needed.
Qualities of good first aider
In order to be a good first aid provider, one must have following qualities:
Observant: a good first aider should be a good observer. He/she should be able to observe
the sign and symptoms of victim and assess the situation quickly so that immediate
management can be done effectively.
Tactful: should be tactful enough to handle any kind of situation. First aid providers have
to be very quick i.e. if any accident takes place, they have to be quick in response and
take over the situation immediately without any delay and should perform their task
without showing any panic.
Resourceful: must be able to use whatever resource is in hand or must be able to make
use of local resources.
Good communication skills: communicating with sick and injured people can be
challenging. Therefore there should be excellent communication skills and a natural
ability to talk to people.
Ability to work under pressure: first aid situation can range from the mundane ( a cut
finger), to incredibly stressful and demanding ( a cardiac arrest ). A first aider should be
able to keep them cool under pressure and be able to manage task. If they panic, then
they’re likely to make the situation much worse and cause the causality further distress.
Leadership skills: emergency situation are frequently marked by chaos and confusion.
As a first aider, you need to step up to lead and manage the crowd. Keeping the situation
well organized and controlled can greatly improve the outcome of emergency care.
Explicit: first aid provider gives instruction clearly to the victims by standers.
Reassuring and sympathetic: the first aid providers must be able to reassure the Victim
that he/she will be taken care of and everything will be alright. The first aid provider
encourage and comforts the victim.
Dexterous: first aider must handle the victim gently without doing any further damage
and uses equipment efficiently.
Skilled: the first aid provider must have some basic medical skills. He/she must be able to
judge the problem depending on the symptoms and make quick calls.
