Basic First Aid

• TASK: Triage a casualty and render basic first aid in order to ensure that the injured person has a better chance for survival.
• CONDITIONS: Given a basic set of instructions and will to survive.
• STANDARD: You must be able to triage and render potentially life-saving first aid to an injured person.

When it comes to providing first aid, nothing compares to actual, hands-on medical training. If anything in this set of instruction conflicts with guidance you receive from a medical professional, follow the guidance of the medical professional.

Stay Calm, Call for Help, Act
Stay calm. Call for help. Triage and render aid.

If you fail to stay calm, you also become a casualty that other first-responders will have to care for.

​Stay calm. Call for help. Triage the person’s injuries. Render aid as best you can until the medics arrive.

Triage
Triage is the process of assessing a person’s injuries and prioritizing them beginning with the most life threatening injury and ending with the least. For the purpose of basic first aid, there are four general categories to assess: breath, blood, bones, and shock.

Determining which category of injury is the most life threatening is up to your best judgment. Bleeding and breathing are typically the two highest priorities when triaging a casualty, but it’s impossible to predict every situation so your judgment has to fill the gap.

Breath
If the person isn’t breathing or is having difficulty breathing you should consider this a high priority. Any time a person goes without breathing for several minutes, there’s a risk of suffering brain damage. Typically, irreversible brain damage can set in within 5-10 minutes. Beyond 10 minutes, recovery is nearly impossible.

Symptoms

• If the person is talking, they’re breathing.
• If you see their chest rise and fall, they’re breathing.
• Hold a smooth glass surface (glasses, cell phone, etc.) just above their lips for a few seconds and see if condensation forms on the surface.

Treatment

• Tilt the person’s chin up.
• Ensure that their mouth is clear of obstructions (gum, food, toothpicks, etc.)
• Pinch their nose shut.
• Place your mouth over theirs and breathe evenly to fill their lungs. You should see their chest rise up. If you don’t, try again. If you still see no reaction, there may be an obstruction in their throat.
• If their chest rises and falls, their airway is clear. Continue to triage the person providing breaths every few seconds.

Blood
Controlling bleeding is critical. Depending on the location of the bleed, it’s possible for a person to bleed out within minutes. A pressure dressing applied to the wound is preferable to control bleeding, but a tourniquet can be more effective.

Symptoms

• Does the person have a pulse? You can feel for their wrist (radial) or neck (carotid) to feel for a pulse.
• Is the person bleeding or is there an open wound?
• Is there a growing bruise visible, especially on the person’s abdomen?

Treatment

• If you are unable to detect a pulse, call for help and begin chest compressions. Perform chest compressions by:
  • Placing your hands on top of each other over the center of the person’s chest.
  • With your arms straight and elbows locked, push down using the weight of your upper body to compress the person’s chest.
  • Continue compressions every second until the person regains consciousness or medics arrive.
• If the person is bleeding, try to stop it by covering the wound with a pressure dressing (shirt, scarf, towel, etc.).
• If a pressure dressing won’t stop the bleeding, apply a tourniquet (scarf, shoelace, belt, headphones, etc.):
  • Wrap the tourniquet around the person’s limb between the wound and the person’s heart.
  • Tighten the tourniquet as much as possible to stop the flow of blood. A good way to do this is to slide something long, thin, and solid between the person’s limb and the tourniquet and then to twist it so that the tourniquet is tightened.
  • Done correctly, the tourniquet will likely be painful.

Bones
A broken bone, by itself, is not typically life threatening. Broken bones can, however, cause internal lacerations so they should be stabilized as much as possible to avoid this.

Symptoms

• Are any limbs bent at unusual angles?
• Are any bones sticking out of the person’s skin (compound fracture)?
• Does the person feel pain when you touch them?

Treatment

• Do not try to set a broken bone! Setting a broken bone increases the risk of causing internal bleeding.
• For a compound fracture, do not try to put the bone back in the person’s body.
• If paramedics are on the way, just keep the person still and calm until they arrive.
• If you have to move the person, stabilize the broken bone with a splint or sling.
• A splint is applied by tying or taping long, rigid objects parallel to the broken bone to immobilize it.
• You can use the person’s shirt as a sling by cutting or tearing the side of the shirt opposite the broken bone, rolling the shirt upward, and tying the cut ends over the person’s shoulder.

Shock
Shock is a condition where a person appears to be unaware of or unconcerned with their surroundings. Your goal should be to help keep the person calm, but alert and try to help improve their circulation and steady their breathing.

Symptoms

• Does the person have cool, clammy, pale, or ashen skin?
• Are they breathing rapidly?
• Is their heart beating rapidly?
• Are their pupils enlarged?
• Are they vomiting or nauseous?
• Are they weak, fatigued, dizzy, confused?

Treatment

• Have the person lie down and, if possible, elevate their feet and legs.
• Keep the person still and warm.
• Loosen tight clothing.
• Don’t let the person eat or drink.
• Talk calmly with the person. Ask simple questions to try and keep the person alert and awake.
• If the person vomits, roll them on their side to prevent choking.

Concussion
A concussion occurs when a person’s brain experiences a traumatic injury of some kind that affects the way their brain works. The cause of a concussion, however, is always some physical trauma or impact. Specialized medical training and/or imaging tools are necessary to properly diagnose a concussion, but there are some warning signs to look for that can identify a person’s increased likelihood of having a concussion. It can take hours or days before symptoms present themselves.

Symptoms

• Headache
• Confusion
• Dizziness
• Ringing in the ears
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Slurred speech
• Personality changes
• Changes in sleeping patterns

Treatment

• Consult a doctor
• Rest as much as possible
• Avoid physical activity
• Avoid extended periods of high-thought activities (video games, reading, watching TV)
• Prefer acetaminophen over ibuprofen for reducing pain

Sources

• Mayo Clinic
  • Breath
  • Blood
  • Bones
  • Shock
  • Concussion