EMERGENCY FIRST AID

First aid is emergency care given immediately to an injured person. The purpose of first
aid is to minimize injury and future disability. In serious cases, first aid may be
necessary to keep the victim alive.
First aid involves timely response to emergencies and immediate care of sick and
injured people
It can be difficult to think clearly in the midst of an emergency. Training your brain
before you find yourself in a high-pressure situation may help you save a life or
potentially help someone in pain. There are three basic C’s to remember—check, call,
and care. When it comes to first aid, there are three P’s to remember—preserve life,
prevent deterioration, and promote recovery.
The Three C’s of Emergency

1. Check
Check means checking for anything unsafe. If the emergency is surrounded by danger,
assistance may be needed. Rushing into a scene without taking in present dangers may
lead to more harm for yourself or others. For example, if there a car wreck happens in a
high traffic area or there is someone in need of help in a fire, you will need to seek
assistance. Check the scene before entering it. Take the evolution of the scene. Next
check if the victim is breathing. You may need to give specific care such as CPR.
2. Call
In emergency situations, it’s important to call 911 immediately. As a first responder, act
right away to get help from professionals. Inspect the scene, gather needed information
—check for breathing and pulse from any victims, and any other helpful information.
Provide correct information for local authorities and get them involved as soon as
possible.
3. Care
After checking the scene and calling for help, provide care until medical professionals
arrive on the scene. Monitor the victims breathing. You may need to stop bleeding
or perform CPR. Follow the circulation-airway-breathing of first aid.

The Three P’s of First Aid

1. Preserve Life
As a first responder to any situation, you first priority should be to preserve life. You may
need to perform CPR, stop bleeding or take other action to preserve the victim’s life.
Start with C-A-B—circulation, airway, and breathing. Asses the quality of the victim’s
circulation, adjust if needed. Ensure that the victim has no blocks to their airway and
that they are breathing. The goal is to prevent the condition from worsening in any way.
2. Prevent Deterioration
Do what you can to keep the victim in stable condition until medical professionals arrive.
The goal is to prevent the condition from worsening and prevent any potential further
injury. This may mean moving the victim to a safer location, applying first aid, stabilizing
them, or just staying with the victim and providing comfort.
3. Promote Recovery
After you’ve done what you can do with first aid treatment, your job now is to promote
recovery. This can be done by encouraging confidence, providing comfort, attempting to
relieve pain, and so on.
These tips and tricks for emergency situations and first aid will likely differ based on
your specific situation. But remembering the basics of what to do may help you save a
life or prevent further pain. Know these simple steps before you find yourself in a
situation where it’s hard to think clearly.
Principles of First Aid
Preserve Life
The first aim of first aid is to preserve life, which involves the key emergency practices
to ensure that the casualty isn’t in any mortal danger. Remember though, this includes
preserving your own life as you shouldn’t put yourself in danger in order to apply first
aid. It’s at this stage where you should do a quick risk assessment to check for dangers
to the injured person, yourself or bystanders which could cause the situation to
escalate. If in doubt, do not attempt to apply first aid and immediately call for a medical
professional.
Prevent Deterioration
Once you’ve followed all the steps associated with the first principle, your next priority is
to prevent deterioration of the injured person’s condition. Keeping a casualty still to
avoid aggravating their injury, or from complicating any unseen issues, is crucial. This
helps prevent to further injuries, and clearing the area of any immediate dangers will
help you to do so.
Promote Recovery
Finally, there are steps you should follow which will help lessen the amount of time
taken for a casualty to recover from an accident and aid in minimizing lasting damage
and scarring. The prime example of this is applying cold water to a burn as soon as
possible to lower the chance of long-term scarring and helps speed up the healing
process.
First Aid Practices
Taking immediate action
This is the key to the ‘Preserving Life’ principle – a quick response to an accident can
save lives and minimize the risk that things get worse. If someone needs help, either
from an injury or sickness, you shouldn’t hesitate to help if possible.
Calming down the situation
First aiders should be able to remain calm under pressure and help reduce the overall
stress levels of the injured person as well as other people who may be concerned.
Reassurance can provide more support that you might expect in an emergency situation
and help people make the right decisions.
Calling for medical assistance
Make sure to get a hold of the emergency services by calling 999 as soon as possible,
either by calling directly yourself or asking a bystander to do so if you’re preoccupied
handing the injury. This will ensure that a medical professional arrives quickly to handle
the situation in a more comprehensive manner and provide more specialist treatment.
Apply the relevant treatment
Before a medical professional does arrive, you will need to apply first aid treatments in
order to stabilise the condition of the injured person. This comes under the ‘preserve
life’ banner, and follows this flow of procedures:
 Check for consciousness
 Open the airway
 Check for breathing Follow airway, breathing, of resuscitation, administer CPR if
needed
 Check for circulation
 Check for bleeding, controlling any major bleeding
There are a number treatments which correspond to the different problems that might
arise as you work through this list, e.g. CPR, applying a tourniquet, running a burn
under cold water, etc.
If someone is injured you should:
• first check that you and the casualty aren't in any danger, and, if possible, make the
situation safe
• if necessary, dial 999 or 112 for an ambulance when it's safe to do so
• carry out basic first aid
If someone is unconscious and breathing
If a person is unconscious but breathing, and has no other injuries that would stop them
being moved, place them in the recovery position until help arrives.
Keep them under observation to ensure they continue to breathe normally, and don't
obstruct their airway.
If someone is unconscious and not breathing
If a person isn't breathing normally after an incident, call an ambulance and start CPR
straight away. Use hands-only CPR if you aren't trained to perform rescue breaths.
Common accidents and emergencies
Below, in alphabetical order, are some of the most common injuries that need
emergency treatment in the UK and information about how to deal with them:
• anaphylaxis (or anaphylactic shock)
• bleeding
• burns and scalds
• choking
• drowning
• electric shock (domestic)
• fractures

Under the DBA nature refers to the duration of your injury, and extent refers to the
degree of your injury. Your injury is either temporary in nature or it's permanent in
nature. At the same time it's either partial or it's total.