What is First Aid?
First aid is the initial care given to a person who has endured an event that can cause potential harm or damage in near future. Events that could be (but not limited to) contact with heat, choke, cardiac arrest, electrocution, deep wound, fractures, and frost bites.
We will be going through the first 3 scenarios, how to identify need and what action to be taken.
Caution: This article does not plan to provide adequate information to deal with first aid scenarios but to have a general idea of what to do. For adequate skill learning please undergo certification from valid sources. We will add a list of authentic sources to receive first aid training and certification from in Pakistan at the end of the article.
The ABCD of First Aid
Before diving in first aid. We need to understand the basic ABCD for first aid.
Now when you spot a casualty that might benefit from your care, first ensure your safety. That’s right! Make sure that the environment is save for you to provide first aid. For example, if someone’s shot or drowning, check if the assaulter is nearby and might possibly hurt you or check if you have the resources to save the drowning individual. If the situation is not safe, refrain from jumping in as that might lead to two casualties instead of one. Checking for safety does include being mentally stable to provide such care to another individual.
IF the surrounding is safe and you’re confident enough to provide first aid remember this ABCD
A for Airway
B for Breathing
C for Circulation
If any of these is negative, call an ambulance ASAP for immediate medical help.
D for Defibrillator
This is an additional resource you can ask for the ambulance to bring in when the circulation is absent or in easy terms, when the heart has stopped beating.
Know your Ambulance Numbers
To call for ambulances you must memorise the ambulance contact numbers before hand.
- Edhi ambulance contact number – 115
- Aman ambulance contact number- 1122 (Now called Sindh Rescue Service) (Fast hence preferred)
- Chippa ambulance contact number- 1020
The contact numbers given are specific to Pakistan. Please note ambulance numbers corresponding to your location.
Let’s dive into how to deal with specific common first aid requiring situations.
- How to Treat Burns and Scalds?
A scald is due to hot water or steam. Burns are due to fire, electricity or any other source. First aid for both similar hence will be covered together.
Rule of thumb is to remove the source of injury immediately, and clear off the injured area off of any accessories, clothing or similar. If the item close to the injured area is stuck with the burn, do not remove. When the area is cleared, expose the injured area under running cold tap water for 20 minutes.
Inspect the burn or scald. If the area is red and painful with no blisters, the burn is a 1st degree burn. After the initial 20 minutes in cold water, you can wrap the first degree burn with a sterile non fluffy cloth, ideally a plastic cling film to avoid external damage or use a burn cream.
If blisters are visible, then the burn is a 2nd degree burn. 2nd burns do heal on their own without medical help but if the blisters do not pop or disappears themselves, seek medical assistance. Do not pop blisters yourself. The rest of the burn treatment is the same as before. Under tap water then wrap in plastic cling film or apply a burn cream.
If blisters are not visible, the area is dark red with no pain on the burn but pain surrounding the burned area, the burn is a 3rd degree burn. This requires immediate medical assistance as the damage has seeped through 3 layers of skin and might cause further irreparable damage. Call an ambulance and run the area under cold tap water and cover with a sterile cloth till help arrives.
This practice works for all kinds of burns including chemical, and electrical.
- How to Deal with Choking?
Choked means that a persons’ airway has been blocked by an item that could be food particles or even their own saliva.
A person could either be partially choked or completely choked. To check what you’re dealing with, it’s best to ask the casualty themselves. Yes, just ask are you choked? If they reply verbally that means the choke is partial and all you have to do is to ask them to do powerful cough until their air passageway is unobstructed. A powerful push through cough would remove any hindrances in the airway.
But if the casualty has an ‘x’ sign displayed and has trouble speaking, it is a complete choke hence you’ll have to follow the following the protocol of chocking first aid.
Direct the casualty so that their chest is curved towards the ground and their shoulder blades face you. Place your non-dominant hand on the casualty’s navel for support and with the palm of your dominant hand give 5 back blows between the shoulder blades and keep an eye on the ground to spot any object that might get cleared off of the airway. If this doesn’t work, brace yourself for the Heimlich Maneuver.
And ask someone to call the ambulance right away.
THE HEIMLICH MANEUVER:
Position yourself behind the casualty and keep your non dominant hand on the casualty’s navel and non-dominant foot between the casualty’s legs for support. With your dominant hand form a fist with your thumb inside your fingers and then slowly bring your thumb out until a spike is formed with your thumb joint yet your thumbnail is still inside and covered. Use this contraption to make j shaped scoops just above the navel and below the rib cage in the midline of the body. Again keep your eyes on the floor to catch if any obstructed particle makes its way out.
Above explained methods are for adults only.
Infant choking
For infants below the age of 3, call an ambulance ASAP.
Lay the infant on your lap with their head towards your knees and legs towards your body. Their back should be facing you and their stomach should be on your legs. Keep their necks angled downwards and give 5 back blows with the palm of your hands gently. If that doesn’t work, flip their body so that their stomach faces you and use your middle and index finger only to press in between and below the ribcage in the midline of the body to create pressure.
- How to Perform CPR?
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or just CPR is the act of reviving someone’s stopped heart. CPR in exclusively given to someone experiencing cardiac arrest.
A lot of misconception is seen with the word cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating entirely. This means the person suffering from cardiac arrest will be unconscious and when looked for the C in ABCD, the circulation will be absent. You can see this as no heartbeats or pulses present in the casualty. DO NOT proceed with CPR with the casualty conscious and/or has heart beats present. Heart attack is when the heart is weakened but does pump hence faint beats will be present.
When you do find yourself in a situation where you’ll have to perform CPR. Ask someone to call the ambulance ASAP.
Before proceeding with CPR, remove clothes or any external object on the person’s chest so that you have direct contact while giving CPR. To give CPR, stretch your dominant hand and front of you and fan your fingers. With your non-dominant hand grab your dominant hand from the back and form a one sided double hand fist. Position yourself on the left side of the casualty and place your hand formation on the midline of the body between the two nipples. Stretch your elbows fully to lock them and form a 90 degree with the casualty. This is how your positioning will be for the rest of the procedure.
Push down 6 cm or until you find resistance. Do these pushes twice every second. 1 cycle has 30 compressions that means you have to go on till 15 seconds. After that, give 2 rescue breaths. Repeat the cycle until the person regains consciousness, the medical personnel arrive, or it’s been more than 20 minutes. If you get tired before any of the mentioned happened, let someone else take the lead while you stay in contact with the emergency services.
First Aid Kits
First aid can be overwhelming. It’s best to have yourself prepared. Keeping a first aid box is the perfect way to do so. This list is a general idea of live saving first aid to include, you can add or remove items as you like.
- Bandages
- Gloves
- Burn cream
- Plastic Sheet
- A hard wooden stick
- Cloth bandage/Sterile cloth
- First aid tape
- Scissors
- Cotton wool
- Pyodine
- Defibrillator (optional)
- AED (optional)
Where to Get Certified?
As promised, here are a few places where you can get CPR or BLS certified!
- All Pakistan Students Union
We provide basic life support certification in Pakistan with experts as per request, free of cost.
Organization located in Islamabad Pakistan that provides in-house sessions for free.
Based in Lahore but can train staff all over Pakistan. Provides American Heart Association and Medic certified courses.
A student led organization. Includes hands on practice, entailed in Karachi, Pakistan. Courses are free of cost but competitive selection when slots are available.
A student led organization working under Help Of Patients in Exigency of Students (HOPES). Includes hands on practice, entailed in Karachi, Pakistan. Courses are free of cost but competitive selection when slots are available.
Standard organization for CPR and BLS certification. On-site courses available but only is specific places around the globe. You can find classes and trainers near you on their website.
And that’s a wrap on how to save life using first aid! What situation do you want to know more about?