9.3 Emergency Care
Objectives: you will be able to describe the importance of
first aid. Identify the priorities of giving first aid.
9.3.1 Importance of
First Aid
First aid is the immediate and temporary care
given to a person who had been injured or suddenly become ill.
It also includes self help and home care when medical assistance
is delayed or is not available. Having knowledge of proper first
aid procedures may help you to some yourself or others.
9.3.2 Priorities of
the First Aid
1-
Have a
plan of action to follow
before giving first aid. This depends on the circumstances
surrounding the accident or illness. Sometimes, prompt action is
needed to save life. In other situations, reassurance and
prevention of further injury may be more of a priority.
2-
Know
how to call for help in a first aid situation. Once an emergency telephone connection is made.
give the following information:
·
Identify exact location,
full address.
·
If possible leave telephone number at which
you or rescuer can be reached.
·
Give
the name of rescuer.
·
Provide as much specific information about illness or injury as possible so that appropriate emergency
equipment’s can be sent.
·
If you, rescuer, cannot make the call, ask
someone else to call for help. After has been called,
further evaluate the situation. (Check A, B, C). A for airway. B
for breathing and, C for circulation.
·
Prompt
rescue,
if necessary.
·
Checking for open airway.
·
Controlling severe bleeding.
·
Checking for signs of poison.
It is important to give an ill or injured person
psychological first aid. This helps victims adjust mentally to a
life – threatening situation.
9.3.3 Respiratory
Emergencies (Asphyxiation)
It is that condition where normal breathing stops
or oxygen intake markedly falls that it becomes insufficient to
support life. There are many causes for respiratory emergencies
such as drowning, heart failure, electric shock, drug overdose,
and carbon monoxide poisoning. Foreign body airway obstruction
usually occurs during eating (choking).
·
Artificial respiration
is a term that includes many techniques that are used by one
person to another to restore breathing. In mouth-to-mouth
breathing or mouth-to-nose respiration, the rescuer inflates the
victim’s lungs by forcing air into them.
·
Immediate action
must be taken if some one is choking. If the victim can cough,
speak, or breathe, do not do anything. He may free the blockage.
If the victim cannot cough, speak or breathe, begin performing
the abdominal thrust.
-
Stand behind the victim.
-
Wrap your arms around victim’s waist.
-
Make a fist with one hand and place the thumb side just above
victim’s navel and below the top of the sternum.
-
Grasp fist with your other hand.
-
Press fist into victim’s abdomen with quick upward thrust.
-
Do 4-5 times. Check the victim’s mouth; hopefully the lodged
matter will be forced out.
·
If the above steps are not successful,
repeat them.
·
If you experience choking yourself and no one is
around, you can perform this technique on yourself. Or
lean forward over a chair and press your abdomen quickly on the
edge of the chair.
9.3.4
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR):
It is an emergency procedure that is used with
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when the heart has stopped beating.
CPR should never be done on a conscious person or on someone who
has a heart beat. Only persons trained in CPR should administer
these techniques.
The ABCs of CPR are general procedures you should know.
A-
Airway
– always be sure the victim’s airway is open. The tongue is the
most common cause of airway obstruction in an unconscious
victim.
B-
Breathing
– after making sure the airway is open, check to see if the
person is breathing. CPR should not be performed if the person
is breathing.
C-
Circulation
–
always check the victim’s pulse to determine if chest
compression will be necessary.
Procedures:
1)
Check responsiveness.
2)
Activate
emergency system; call for help, local emergency telephone
number.
3)
Roll person onto back.
4)
Open
airway.
5)
Check for breathing – give 2 full breaths.
6)
Check for pulse – do 15 chest compressions.
This cycle is to be repeated until respiration
and circulation are restored or until medical help arrives. If
you suspect a neck injury be careful in opening airway and use
jaw thrust method instead of (head tilt/chin lift method).
Become trained in CPR, contact the Egyptian Red Crescent society
or the medical education and Development Center in the Faculty
of Medicine – Cairo University.
9.3.5 Controlling
Bleeding
Any break in the skin is called a wound. Stopping
bleeding through a wound is a priority. Direct pressure and
elevation can stop bleeding. A second method of stopping
bleeding is the use of pressure on a supplying artery. The two
pressure points are under the arm (the brachial artery) and
inside the grain area (the femoral artery).
9.3.6 Poisoning
A
poison is any substance that can cause illness or death when
introduced into the body. Poisons can enter the body through
ingestion (swallowing), inhalation, injection, or absorption
through skin or mucous membrane.
·
Determine immediately the poison ingested.
If a container is nearby, follow the first aid directions on
label. Get additional clues by asking others what they think
occurred.
·
Call the local poison center or physician for
further information. Seek medical help for the victim.
·
If there is no instructions on the container or
there is no container. Dilute the ingested poison by having
the victim drink milk on water.
·
Never
force unconscious victim to vomit.
Also, never force a victim to vomit who has swallowed a
corrosive substance such as gasoline, kerosene or lye. Vomiting
these products can cause further damage to the digestive tract.
Rather, have the victim swallow milk or eat raw egg or mashed
potatoes so that the stomach can be coated and the poison
neutralized.
9.3.7 Sudden
Illness or Injury
Any serious injury or illness can result in
shock. Shock is a condition in which the rate of the functions
of the vital organs of the body slows.
When a person becomes suddenly injured or ill,
the function and possibly the structure of the body changes. The
objective of first aid is to prevent these changes from causing
further harm to the body. All victims should be treated for
treated for shock and should receive medical attention. It is
important to maintain body temperature and blood circulation in
a shock victim.
Some situations will be mentioned in the lectures e.g.:
-
Heart attack and stroke
-
Fractures, dislocations, sprains and strains
-
Burns
-
Some environmental hazards.
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