Article: Basic First Aid

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John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,109
2,847
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Pembrokeshire
A very useful article :)
I really wish that more folk would get trained in 1st Aid ... one day it might be me needing their help!
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
17
Scotland
Mr. Fenna is right, well worth having. I feel kind've guilty as my certificate is pretty out of date now. Should really get it updated as things change though I.try to keep up to date.
One of my mates kids who lives way out in the sticks came up with the idea to have their local phone box turned into a first aid station with a cardio resuss kit in it. Got herself an award and in the paper. Probably wouldn't work in a city due to vandalism but works out there.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.
 

Harmonica

Forager
Jul 16, 2006
208
0
41
Clara Vale, Tyne and Wear
We use to teach a lot of first aid to the scouts as one of my fellow leaders was very qualified in the subject from leading expeditions etc.

They use to complain that they got taught this all in school as well. I remember thinking it was very positive to have first aid on the school curriculum as it was producing whole generations of first aiders.

We also had a cardio surgeon in at work, his goal is to cut heart attack deaths by spreading the message that you can't do any harm by attempting CPR as the person having a heart attack is dead anyway without help. There's a real fear of being sued (unfounded-no one has ever been successfully sued for attempting CPR) and over 40% of all victims die without any form or resuscitation being attempted. By the time an ambulance arrives it's often too late. Even basic CPR buys time for qualified help to arrive.
 

bearbait

Full Member
As you say Wayne, knowing your location is important. Having a map with you, or a GPS unit, from which you can supply a grid ref when out in the boonies is much better than a description of where you are (e.g. half way up the N trail up Mt. Biggy) for the emergency services.
 

TarHeelBrit

Full Member
Mar 13, 2014
687
3
62
Alone now.
A very useful article :)
I really wish that more folk would get trained in 1st Aid ... one day it might be me needing their help!

Don't worry John if our paths ever cross and you need first aid I'll yield to my wife.:) She was an Firefighter/EMT and although retired she like to keep qualified. She re-upped her certificate before we left Raleigh and keeps a trauma bag in the back of the car.

When I was in senior school first aid was offered on the fifth year curriculum kind of sad that there was only about a dozen of us that took up the offer. Still it's useful and I like to keep my hand in.
 
Mar 26, 2015
99
0
Birmingham, UK
Working in an operating theatre for almost 2 years has taught me that CPR is largely quite useless, and mouth to mouth is rarely needed. If a patient gets to the point where they NEED life saving skills, they need a defib, and a doctor. Little else will help them.

Regarding mouth-to-mouth, ensure that the CPR situation actually requires it. Mainly, MtM is ultimately a useless waste of breath, time and CPR has proven more successful with just chest compressions (not to mention the person may have an unbeknowst dangerous virus like TB or MRSA, which is very common in Asian/African people recently returning from abroad - we get kids in our hospital all the time with such illnesses)

If a person has had a HEART ATTACK, forget MtM; the problem is that the heart is in fibrillation (so it's having a dubstep party in someone's chest, basically), and requires a regular beat (breathing into them does nothing much, as the fibrillation means the body can't do anything with that air). Do chest compressions and await help. Heart attacks are very fast killers; if nothing else it will keep YOU calm (or the people with you), and at least make you feel as if you helped. (that's grim, but it's ultimately the truth... a dead heart is a dead heart)

If a person is DROWNING or has suffered an OVERDOSE, make sure you do MtM. This is vital, as their airway is likely physically closed, or obstructed. Do chest compressions as well. If you are concerned that the person has a virus or condition you do not wish to catch, poke a hole in a plastic bag (careful not to smother them with it), or carry around a pocket face mask so you can safely administer MtM.

If you are unsure (i.e. you simply find someone lying there), do your ABCs (airway, breathing, circulation) and just call for help and start chest compressions.

Good article though, the stuff about stings and bites and whatnot was really useful! :D
 

Quixoticgeek

Full Member
Aug 4, 2013
2,483
23
Europe
Regarding mouth-to-mouth, ensure that the CPR situation actually requires it. Mainly, MtM is ultimately a useless waste of breath, time and CPR has proven more successful with just chest compressions

My local ambulance trust has adopted a CPR protocol that starts with 100 chest compressions, then they worry about any MtM.

J
 
Mar 26, 2015
99
0
Birmingham, UK
My local ambulance trust has adopted a CPR protocol that starts with 100 chest compressions, then they worry about any MtM.

J

Yep! End of the day, if the heart isn't beating properly (or at all, in some cases) then it can't process any oxygen you're giving, so it's useless until you get the heart steady.

A cardiac surgeon once told me that good CPR will usually result in slightly sore ribs. Many people are quite scared of 'hurting' the person, so don't do it hard enough. Better a cracked rib than dead! ^_^
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,109
2,847
66
Pembrokeshire
I just did an evening of Defib and 1st Aid basics - MtM is optional now and, it seems, soon to be dropped from most training!
We now have a defib unit mounted on the outside of our "village hall" and about 2/3 of the village population turned up for the training :)
I have only done CPR twice - once on a neighbor who turned out to have been down about 30mins and the other to a guy I knew well.
On the first one I had no chance as it turned out - the second one ... by the time the defib got to us the guy had no pulse so the machine said "do not shock" but with CPR and MtM the First Responder and I had him back to having a pulse and breathing for himself. He had to be shocked back a few times on the ambulance ride to hospital and only survived for about a week before the heart disease/defect that had him drop in the first place finally killed him.
CPR and MtM do sometimes work when a defib does not....



Oh yes - I felt some ribs go while I was working...
 
Sep 14, 2017
4
0
Horsham
It really doesn't cost as much as people might think to do a first aid course. You can even book in groups to cut the cost down for each person.
 

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