First aid is an essential life skill. It is not just for those who have children or may need it for work – EVERYONE should be trained in first aid. 

Have you ever come across an emergency situation and completely frozen? The first thing first aid will help you do is act! Often we overthink situations and in emergency situations, some people are afraid of not doing something correctly and therefore don’t act at all. However administering some form of basic first aid is far better than no first aid at all, particularly in a case where someone has stopped breathing, in which case the situation literally can’t get any worse for that person.

Safe Hands have been teaching first aid for over 10 years now. Our team of nurses has been instilling knowledge and confidence in individuals to act when they suspect an emergency. The majority of situations will require you to simply call an ambulance. Standing by or acting can be the difference in saving someone’s life! 

The first thing to do if you have never attended a first aid course or haven’t for over two years is to book and attend a course to become certified and give you the confidence to act.

During a first aid course, you will be educated on a number of different emergency situations so you know how exactly each should be responded to. However, as a base, every emergency situation follows the same process initially. This process is called the 5 step emergency process. Depending on the situation you will stop at various points in the process.

First Aid: 5 Step Emergency Process

Step 1:  Check for Danger and safety. Priority number one in every emergency is YOU. This may be hard if the person in danger is someone you know, however, if you approach a dangerous situation without checking, it could be you requiring the saving!

Check for Danger and safety

Step 2: Check Responsiveness. The individual may be obviously talking and alert in some emergencies, in others we may need to do a thorough check on whether they are conscious or unconscious. This helps us determine how serious the situation is.

Check Responsiveness

Step 3: Call the ambulance. If it was determined that the individual was unconscious you will make the call right away. If they are conscious and it is a situation that requires further assistance by paramedics, call and explain the scenario. If you have others around you can delegate and get them to call.

Call the ambulance

Step 4: Check for breathing. If the individual was unconscious the next step is to check for a vital sign which is breathing. Very simple to conduct and obvious to look, listen and feel for regular breathing. This again will help determine the severity and need for our next step. If breathing, place the individual into a recovery position and wait for an ambulance. If not breathing, move on to step 5.

Check for breathing

Step 5: CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation). Any situation where the individual is not breathing will require CPR to be performed. This is a life support mechanism in order to keep the heart pumping causing blood to circulate around the body. Along with rescue breaths to continue to introduce oxygen into the system. This keeps all vital organs alive.

Statistics show that if CPR is performed immediately it can double or triple the chance of survival from an out of hospital cardiac arrest. (American Heart Association). 

CPR

Learning how to correctly perform CPR on all ages is a key factor in how first aid can save a life! The principles remain similar however technique changes slightly among infants, children, and adults. The best way to learn is by joining a course where you will practice on a mannequin which replicates the feeling. This way you will know the correct positioning, timing, and strength you require to adequately perform the skill. 

You never know when you will come across an emergency, having the knowledge and confidence is key. Safe Hands offer Pediatric and Adult courses both open at their center and private courses and your company or home. 

Join a course today and save a life tomorrow!

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