Introduction to First Aid & Basic Life Support

First Aid

immediate help provided to a sick or injured person until professional medical help arrives or becomes
available

Objectives of First Aid

 Preserve life.

 Prevent further harm and complications.

 Seek immediate medical help.

 Provide reassurance.

Legal Concerns

 Consent

 Duty to Act

 Standard of Care

 Negligence

 Abandonment

 Confidentiality

Philippine Revised Penal Code Book One Article 12 no.4 of Act No. 3815

• “any person who, while performing a lawful act with due care, causes an injury by mere accident
without fault or intention of causing it” is exempt from criminal liability

Philippine Revised Penal Code Book Two Article 275 no. 1 & 2 of Act No. 3815

• 1. Anyone who shall fail to render assistance to any person whom he shall in an uninhabited
place wounded or in danger of dying when he can render such assistance without detriment to
himself, unless such omission shall constitute a more serious offense.

• 2. Anyone who shall fail to help or render assistance to another whom he has accicdentally
wounded or injured.
Health Hazards and Risks

Common Transmittable Diseases

In some acute cases you might not see signs of transmittable diseases but this are common
transmittable disease that you can see.

 Herpes - A very common sexually transmitted disease (STD) Can affect the mouth (oral herpes)
or genitals (genital herpes) Easily spread with or without symptoms

 Hepatitis - is a disease of the liver characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the
tissue of the organ. Hepatitis may occur without symptoms, but can lead to jaundice (a yellow
discoloration of the skin, mucous membranes, and conjunctiva of the eyes), poor appetite,
and fatigue.

 Meningitis - is when the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord (meninges)
become infected. is when the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord (meninges)
become infected by bacteria and viruses.

 Tuberculosis - is a disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria

usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body.

 Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). - is a

virus that gradually attacks the immune system, which is our body’s natural defence against
illness. If a person becomes infected with HIV, they will find it harder to fight off infections and
diseases. The virus destroys a type of white blood cell called a T-helper cell and makes copies of
itself inside them. T-helper cells are also referred to as CD4 cells.1

Universal Precautions -- set of strategies developed to prevent transmission of blood borne pathogens.

Body Substance Isolation (BSI) -- precautions taken to isolate or prevent risk of exposure from body
secretions and any other type of body substance such as urine, vomit, faeces, sweat, or sputum.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

are specialized clothing, equipment and supplies that keep you from directly contacting infected
materials.
EMERGENCY ACTION PRINCIPLES

Scene Size-up

I. Scene Safety

II. Knowing What Happened

• Cause of injury

• Nature of illness

III. Role of bystanders

IV. Number of casualties

V. Asking permission or consent

Primary Assessment

I. Assessing Responsiveness

• A – Alert

• V – Responsive to Voice

• P – Responsive to Pain

• U – Unresponsive / Unconscious

II. Activate Medical Help

Ask someone to call for local emergency number and get an Automated External Defibrillator
(AED)

III. Airway

 open airway allows air to enter the lungs for the person to breathe

 if blocked, the person cannot breathe

IV. Breathing

 maintain an open airway,

 quickly check an unconscious person for breathing (LLF technique for no > 10 seconds.

V. Circulation

 Pulse

Adult or Child – Carotid pulse

Infant - Brachial pulse

 Bleeding

Quickly look for severe bleeding by looking over the person’s body from head to toe for signals

(ex. blood-soaked clothing or blood spurting out of a wound).

 Shock

-- If left untreated, shock can lead to death.

-- Always look for the signals of shock whenever you are giving care.

 Skin color, temperature and moisture

-- These assessment can tell you more about the patient’s circulatory system.

Secondary Assessment

 Interviewing the person and bystanders

 Checking the person from head to toe.

 Checking for vital signs.

Pulse Rate

 Adult 60-100 Beats/min

 Child 80-120 Beats/min

 Infant 100-160 Beats/min

 Respiratory Rate

 Adult 12-2- Breaths/min

 Child 18-25 Breaths/min

 Infant 25-40 Breaths/min

 MEDICAL & ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCIES

Seizures
when the normal functions of the brain are disrupted by injury, disease, fever, poisoning or
infection, the electrical activity of the brain becomes irregular

First Aid Management

• Reassure the victim that you are going to help.
• Remove nearby objects that might cause injury.
• Protect the victim’s head by placing a thinly folded towel or piece of clothing beneath it.
• Do not hold or restrain the patient when a seizure is in progress.
• Do not place anything between the victim’s teeth or put anything in the victim’s mouth.
• Loosen clothing and fan the victim if the seizure was caused by a sudden rise in body
temperature.
• Ensure that the victim’s airway is open and check for breathing and other injuries once the
seizure is over.
• Stay and watch over the victim until the victim is fully conscious.

Anaphylaxis

An allergy is caused by the over-activity of the immune system against specific antigens

First Aid Management

• Call the local emergency number.

 • Calm and reassure the person.

• Help the person to rest in the most comfortable position for breathing.

• Monitor the person’s breathing. Look for any changes in their condition.

• Assist the person with the use of a prescribed epinephrine auto-injector, if available.

• Give care for life-threatening emergencies.

• Document any changes in the person’s condition over time.

Fainting

a partial or complete loss of consciousness resulting from a temporary reduction of blood flow to the
brain

First Aid Management

• Position the victim on his or her back.

• Keep the victim in a lying position.

• Loosen any restrictive clothing, such as a tie or a buttoned-up collar.

• Check for any other life-threatening and non-life-threatening conditions.

• Do not give the victim anything to eat or drink.

Preparatory Executory

• Ready to kneel towards the patient’s head/legs……………..Kneel

• Hands over the patient………………………………………………..…Move

• Ready to insert………………………………………………….……………Insert

• Place patient on your

knees, ready to lift……..……………………………………………….……Lift

• Clip (Patient’s body press to

the chest)…….…………………………………………………………….…….Clip

• Ready to stand…….…………………………………………….…………..Stand

• Leg/Head center…………………………………………………….…….Move

• Ready to walk, inner foot first…………………………………..……Walk

• Ready to stop…………………………………………………………….……..Stop

• Face center…………………………………………………………..………..Move

• On your knees and rest………………………………………..……..Kneel

• Ready to unload…………………………………………………………..Unload