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First aid- that’s good to know

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First aid- that's good to know

This first aid guide outlines essential techniques to manage emergencies effectively and potentially save lives. It covers core procedures like hemorrhage control—using direct pressure, elevation, and tourniquets for severe bleeding—and injury stabilization, including spinal immobilization, splinting fractures, and proper wound care. It provides practical steps for handling real-life scenarios such as unconsciousness, choking, and accident-related injuries, emphasizing the importance of safety, rapid response, and continuous monitoring. CPR is detailed, with guidance on chest compressions and rescue breaths to maintain circulation and oxygen flow during cardiac arrest. The recovery position is explained as a vital method to keep an unconscious person’s airway clear until help arrives. The guide also identifies common first aid mistakes, like improper tourniquet use and ignoring personal safety, and offers expert advice stressing the importance of training and confidence. Learning first aid is crucial, as it empowers individuals to act swiftly, reduce harm, and potentially save the lives of strangers or loved ones. By being prepared and informed, anyone can make a significant difference in emergency situations.

Essential First Aid Techniques and Guidelines

This guide covers key first aid techniques. In emergencies, quick and correct first aid can improve results and save lives. This document is a helpful resource, explaining important ways to give first aid, focusing on stopping bleeding, securing injuries, and supporting life.

Here, you’ll find real situations to test your skills, common errors to avoid for better help, and advice from experts to increase your confidence as someone who can help in an emergency. If you’re a healthcare worker, trained responder, or just want to be ready, this guide gives useful facts and skills.
Core First Aid Procedures

Hemorrhage Control

  1. Direct Pressure: Press firmly on the wound with a clean cloth or bandage to slow or stop bleeding. Keep pressing until help arrives or bleeding stops.
  2. Elevation: Raise the injured arm or leg above the heart to reduce blood flow. Use with direct pressure. Make sure raising the limb doesn’t cause more pain or injury.
  3. Tourniquet: Use only for severe, life-threatening bleeding that can’t be stopped with pressure and elevation. Put the tourniquet tightly above the wound, at least two inches from the bleeding spot. Note the time you put it on. Tell medical staff when they arrive. Use only when needed because it can harm the limb if left on too long.

Stopping bleeding is key to preventing shock and death. Use these steps to reduce blood loss until medical help arrives.

Injury Stabilization

  1. Spinal Immobilization: If you think someone has a spinal injury due to an accident, pain, or other symptoms, keep their neck and back still. Use a neck brace and secure them to a backboard. Don’t move them unless necessary, as it could make the injury worse.
  2. Splinting Fractures: Use splints to keep broken bones stable. This prevents more injury, reduces pain, and lowers the risk of problems. Use padding to protect the skin. Make sure the splint fits snugly, but not too tight.
  3. Wound Care: Clean cuts with sterile saline or clean water to remove dirt and lower the chance of infection. Put on a sterile bandage to protect the wound and help it heal. Watch for signs of infection and get medical help if needed.

Keeping injuries stable protects the person from more harm when they are moved to get medical care. Doing it right reduces problems and helps them recover better.

Practical First Aid Scenarios

Loss of Consciousness

  1. Check if the person is awake. Gently tap them and ask if they are okay. If they don’t respond, call emergency services (like 911) right away.
  2. Check if they are breathing. Look to see if their chest is rising and listen for breath sounds. If they are not breathing or gasping, start CPR immediately, beginning with chest compressions.
  3. If they are breathing, put them in the recovery position to help keep their airway clear. Carefully roll them onto their side, making sure their head is supported and their airway is open. This helps prevent choking.
  4. Keep watching their breathing and if they respond until help arrives. Be ready to tell the responders what you’ve observed.

When someone is unconscious, quickly check and help them breathe and circulate blood. Act fast, as time is very important.

Accident-Related Injuries

  1. Make sure the area is safe. Before you go to help, look around for dangers like traffic, broken glass, or wires. If you can, remove the dangers or move the person to a safe place.
  2. Check for injuries. Look for bleeding, broken bones, burns, and head injuries. Watch for signs of shock, like pale skin and fast breathing. Ask the person where it hurts and how they feel.
  3. Give help right away. Stop bleeding by pressing firmly on wounds. Keep broken bones still with splints or by holding the injured part. Cool burns with cool water (not ice). Keep checking their breathing, pulse, and if they are awake. Be ready to tell emergency services what you’ve observed.

   In an accident, stay calm and check everything carefully. First, make sure it’s safe, then help with the most serious problems. Comfort the person and keep them calm while you wait for medical help.

Choking

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  1. Make sure the person is really choking. Ask „Are you choking?” If they can cough or talk, let them keep coughing. Don’t do anything if they can still breathe.If the person can’t breathe, talk, or cough, have someone call emergency services.
  2. Give five back blows. Use the heel of your hand between their shoulder blades.
  3. Give five abdominal thrusts (Heimlich maneuver). Stand behind them, put your fist just above their belly button, grab your fist with your other hand, and give quick, upward pushes.
  4. Keep switching between five back blows and five abdominal thrusts until the object comes out or they become unconscious.
  5. If they become unconscious, gently lower them to the ground and start CPR.

    Knowing how to help someone who is choking can save their life. Practice these steps so you’re ready to act fast.

Common First Aid Mistakes and Expert Insights

Common Mistakes

  • Incorrect Tourniquet Use: Not tight enough or too close to the joint.
  • Moving People with Spinal Injuries: Can make the injury worse.
  • Ignoring Safety: Putting yourself in danger.
  • Not Calling for Help: Slows down getting medical help.
  • Forgetting to Check for Allergies: Giving medicine that could cause a reaction.

Knowing common mistakes helps first aid work better and prevents more harm. Avoiding these errors can greatly improve safety and how well patients do in emergencies.

Expert Commentary

„You don’t have to be a doctor. You have to be a person who doesn’t look away. That’s enough.” dr Anna Radwańska

„Gloves, a tourniquet, a flashlight and NRC foil – these are my essentials. And a heart – because without it you can’t help anyone.” Lifeguard Karolina Wolska

Experts say being ready and learning often are important in first aid. Regular training builds confidence and skill. Also, staying updated with the newest advice and methods through classes and certificates makes sure first responders can handle many medical emergencies well.

 

The Recovery Position

The recovery position is a key first aid method. It helps someone who is unconscious but breathing to keep their airway clear. This stops them from choking on vomit or fluids. If someone is unresponsive but still breathing, put them in this position to wait for medical help. Make sure they are on their side with their head tilted back so they can breathe easily until paramedics arrive.

Knowing the recovery position is important for everyone. By learning this skill, you can help people who need it. It’s a basic part of first aid. It’s important to keep their airway open and stop them from choking. Putting someone in the recovery position correctly can really help them while waiting for the ambulance. 

To correctly place someone in the recovery position, kneel beside them. Place the arm nearest to you at a right angle to their body, then bring their other arm across their chest. Bend the leg furthest from you so it is raised. Gently roll the person towards you onto their side, ensuring the bent leg supports their body and prevents them from rolling back. Tilt their head back to open their airway and check their breathing regularly. This position ensures that any fluids can drain from the mouth, reducing the risk of choking.

The recovery position is essential in various scenarios, such as after a seizure, in cases of intoxication, or following any incident where a person loses consciousness but continues to breathe. Continuous monitoring is critical while waiting for professional medical assistance. Keeping the individual warm and sheltered can further enhance their comfort and overall outcome. Remember, this technique is a temporary measure to maintain the airway open until paramedics arrive.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)

CPR is an emergency method that combines chest presses with breaths. It helps keep the brain working until doctors can restart the heart and breathing of someone in cardiac arrest. CPR is needed if someone is not responding, not breathing, or struggling to breathe. Starting CPR quickly can greatly increase their chances of survival.

Chest Compressions

Chest presses are key to CPR because they move blood around the body when the heart stops. To do chest presses, put the heel of one hand in the middle of the person’s chest, on the lower half of the breastbone, between the nipples. Put your other hand on top, locking your fingers together. Position yourself above their chest, with your shoulders over your hands. Use your weight to push straight down about 2 inches (5 cm) but not more than 2.4 inches (6 cm). Do these presses at a rate of 100-120 per minute, like the beat of the song „Stayin’ Alive.” Let the chest come all the way back up after each press so blood can refill the heart.
Make sure your hands are in the right place to avoid hurting them.
Push down enough to move blood well.
Keep the right pace to make the presses work best.

Rescue Breaths

Give two rescue breaths after every 30 chest presses to get oxygen into the person’s lungs. First, tilt their head back a little by putting one hand on their forehead and lifting their chin. Close their nose by pinching it shut with your fingers so air doesn’t leak out. Make a tight seal over their mouth with your mouth, making sure no air escapes. Give two breaths, each lasting about one second. Watch for their chest to rise with each breath, showing that air is going into the lungs. If the chest doesn’t rise, move the airway and try again because something might be blocking it. Be careful not to give too many breaths, as this can cause problems.
Open the airway well so air can get in.
Seal the mouth and nose to keep air from leaking.
Watch the chest to make sure air is getting in.
Keep doing CPR until medical help arrives, an AED is ready to use, or the person starts showing signs of getting better, like breathing normally.

Why it's important to learn first aid

Learning first aid is a crucial life skill that can make the difference between life and death. Accidents and medical emergencies can happen anytime, anywhere—at home, at work, or in public. In such moments, immediate action is often needed, and having basic first aid knowledge allows you to respond quickly and effectively. For example, performing CPR during cardiac arrest can significantly increase a person’s chances of survival before emergency services arrive.

First aid also helps reduce the severity of injuries. A quick response can prevent a wound from becoming infected, stop excessive bleeding, or even calm someone in shock. Additionally, knowing what to do in an emergency gives you confidence and helps you stay calm under pressure. It empowers you to take control of a critical situation instead of feeling helpless.

Moreover, first aid isn’t just for strangers—it could save the life of a loved one. By learning these skills, you become a more responsible, caring, and prepared member of your community.

Website was made by: Maciej Kępka, Karol Brodzik, Alan Pietrzak, Ksawery Łubiński, Tomasz Oziemski, Natalia Lichowska.

„The project is financed by the European Union. The opinions and views expressed are solely the personal views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union or the entity granting support. The European Union and the grantor are not responsible for them.”