Notes

FIRST AID
“Safety means first aid to the uninjured”.
- the care given before emergency medical help arrives.
- may save a life or improve certain vital signs including pulse, temperature, a patent (unobstructed) airway, and breathing.
- Prevent a victim’s condition from worsening and provide relief from pain.
Principles of first aid apply to all emergencies
1. The first step is to call for professional medical help.
2. Assess scene and ask questions about injury/illness.
 First aid requires rapid assessment of victims to determine whether life-threatening conditions
A. Airway—is it open and unobstructed?
B. Breathing—Look, listen, and feel for breathing.
C. Circulation—is there a pulse?
3. Protect victim from shock, which can lead to death if left untreated.
 PREVENT SHOCK
• The victim should be covered with blankets or warm clothes to maintain a normal body temperature
• The victim’s feet should be elevated.
• Because of the danger of abdominal injuries, nothing should be administered by mouth.
Asphyxiation
• occurs when air cannot reach the lungs, cutting off the supply of oxygen to circulating blood
• can cause irreparable damage to the brain
• causes of asphyxiation:
– drowning
– gas poisoning
– overdose of narcotics
– electrocution
– choking
– strangulation
Mouth-to-Mouth Technique

Choking
 Heimlich Maneuver
• emergency procedure that is used to dislodge foreign bodies from the throats of choking victims.
 Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
• used to restore the heartbeat in a victim whose heart has stopped—a condition known as cardiac arrest
• Symptoms:
1. crushing pain or pressure behind the breastbone
2. pain in the arms, neck, or shoulder
3. anxiety and a feeling of impending doom
4. difficulty breathing
5. heavy perspiration
6. weakness
7. nausea
8. loss of consciousness
• combines the techniques of artificial respiration with the application of external heart massage to keep blood flowing through the victim’s body.
Severe Bleeding
• Bright red, spurting blood indicates injury to an artery
• while welling or steadily flowing, dark red blood indicates injury to a vein.
• Injuries to veins and minor arteries bleed more slowly but may also be fatal if left unattended.
• Shock usually results from loss of fluids, such as blood, and must be prevented as soon as the loss of blood has been stopped
• Pressure Dressing
• Bleeding from a medium-sized blood vessel can best be halted by applying direct pressure
• Flattening the injured blood vessel slows the flow of blood to make clotting possible
• Once the bleeding has stopped, securing the bandage and padding, as shown here, maintains pressure on the wound to minimize chances of renewed bleeding.
• Fainting, a sudden, temporary loss of consciousness, occurs when the brain does not receive enough blood.
- The victim’s airway and breathing should be closely monitored. A fainting victim must also be kept warm to prevent shock. If the victim does not fully recover after five minutes, medical help should be requested.
• Seizures, sudden brief episodes of intense neurological activity, may result from a variety of causes, including epilepsy, a neurological disorder, and head injuries.
- First aid for seizures consists of protecting the victim from accidental injury during the seizure
• A deep state of unconsciousness due to illness or injury is known as a coma. Comatose individuals cannot be awakened.
- If the person is breathing, first aid is limited to providing comfort until medical assistance arrives.
- If the victim is not breathing, the first-aid provider should administer mouth-to-mouth or mask-to-mouth resuscitation.
• Poisoning and Drug Overdose
- A poisonous substance introduced into the body through the mouth or nose causes symptoms such as nausea, cramps, and vomiting
- Poisons include:
1. toxic medications
2. herbicides
3. insecticides
4. rodenticides
5. household disinfectants
6. noxious gases
- In a case of poisoning, the first-aid provider should remove the victim from a toxic environment, then call a physician or hospital emergency department.
- Vomiting should not be induced unless the poison control center recommends it. If the victim vomits, the first-aid provider should turn the individual on the side and clear the airway
- A drug overdose occurs when an individual takes too large a dose of a drug or takes a dose that is stronger than the person can tolerate.
- Symptoms of a drug overdose include unusually dilated or contracted pupils, vomiting, difficulty in breathing, hallucinations, and in severe cases unconsciousness and slow, deep breathing.
- If an overdose is not treated, the individual may die. Victims of overdose should be taken immediately to a hospital emergency room.
Burns
• A burn is an injury to the skin caused by exposure to fire, hot liquids or metals, radiation, chemicals, electricity, or the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
• First aid for burns involves removing the source of the burn as soon as possible.
• The burn should be cooled immediately with cold water. A clean, cold wet towel or dressing can be placed on less serious burns to ease pain and protect the burn from contamination.
• A first-degree, or superficial, burn, which involves only the surface of the skin, is characterized by reddening.
• A second-degree burn extends beneath skin surface and causes blistering and severe pain while a
• third-degree, or full-thickness, burn causes charring and destruction of the cell-producing layer of skin.

Electric Shock
• Contact with electrical current is potentially fatal.
• Electricity passing through the body can cause injury to the skin and internal organs.
• If electricity passes through the heart, the heart muscle may be damaged and the heart’s rhythm interrupted, leading to cardiac arrest.
• The signs and symptoms of electric shock include tingling, burns on the skin where the current entered or exited, muscle pain, headache, loss of consciousness, irregular breathing or lack of breathing, and cardiac arrest.
• The severity of the injury depends on the strength of the electric current and the path the current takes through the body.
• The person providing first aid to a victim of electric shock should not touch the individual’s body until the source of the shock is turned off.
• Because of the potential for internal injuries, victims of electrical injury should not be moved unless they are in immediate danger.
• The first-aid provider should monitor the victim for symptoms of shock. If the victim has stopped breathing and has no pulse, CPR should be performed after the airway, breathing, and circulation have been checked.
• When the victim’s vital signs are stable, the site of the burn should be treated using the same methods used for other burns.

Animal Bites and Stings
• Animals such as snakes, dogs, cats, small rodents like squirrels, certain insects, and spiders may bite humans with dangerous consequences.
• Bites inflicted by venomous snakes require immediate first-aid measures. The victim should be taken as soon as possible to the nearest emergency medical facility. In the interim, the first-aid provider should not cut the area around the bite, attempt to suck out the venom, or apply ice to the wound
• the bite area should be kept at a lower level than the rest of the body.
• The wound should be washed thoroughly with soap and water, blotted dry, and loosely covered with a sterile dressing.
• Bites from other animals should be thoroughly washed, treated with an antibiotic ointment, and bandaged.
• Victims of any animal or human bite whose immunizations are not current may need a shot for tetanus, an often fatal infectious disease affecting the muscles of the neck and jaw.
• Infection, and cold compresses or topical medications applied to alleviate itching and pain. Bites from some species of ticks can cause serious illnesses including lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Heat Illnesses
• Exposure to excessive heat may cause heat exhaustion or heatstroke.
• Heat exhaustion results from excessive loss of body fluids and body salts.
• Symptoms include pale and clammy skin, heavy perspiration, a weak pulse, and shallow breathing.
Head, Eye and Nose Injuries
• Injuries to the head may involve the scalp, skull, or brain. If the victim has a head wound, the first-aid provider should not apply pressure to it, as this may damage the brain.
• The victim’s airway should be kept clear from obstructions, such as vomitus, which is common in cases of head injury.
• If the victim has a seizure, a sudden spasm of the body, the head must be protected with cushions to prevent further injury.
• All individuals with head injuries should be evaluated by a physician
• Medical attention should be sought for all eye injuries as well. In the case of foreign material in the eye, especially caustic substances, or those that can burn, corrode, or dissolve tissues, the eye should be flushed immediately with a cool, sterile saline solution, if available, or plain tap water for 15 to 30 minutes.
• The most common injuries to the nose involve nosebleeds, objects lodged in the nasal passages, and broken nasal bones.
• The victim of a simple nosebleed should sit down, lean forward, and gently pinch together the soft part of the nose for 15 minutes.
• A cold compress can also be placed on the bridge of the nose.
• If material lodged in the nose cannot be forced out by gently blowing the nose, the victim should request medical help. In the case of a broken nose, the first-aid provider should apply a cold compress to the bridge of the nose and seek medical attention.
Sprains and Fractures
• A sprain, the painful stretching or tearing of ligaments (tissues that connect bones at joints), occurs when a bone is suddenly wrenched at the joint.
• A fracture, a break or crack in a bone, is caused by sudden, violent pressure against the bone.
• Because the slightest movement of the affected part may cause the injured person great pain and increase the damage, no attempt should be made to straighten or move sprained or broken limbs until medical help arrives.