First Aid – resuscitation

Published on 19 February, 2018 | first aid

Resuscitation

Whenever you come across an emergency medical situation, the procedures and the priorities are always the same.  Before you take any action make an initial assessment of the situation to help you to establish what the priorities are, this could be whether you and the person are in any immediate danger.

If so then you would decide what the best course of action would be – remember you cannot always move a person, so telephoning the emergency services might be your next step.If a person is quiet, it often means that they are in need of urgent attention.  So the first action would be to check the individual(s):(A)          Airway – is it clear of any obstacles,?(B) Breathing – are they breathing normally?(C)          Circulation – check their pulse?If the person appears unconscious, ask them loudly `can you hear me – can you open your eyes?’   If the person responds, and there is no immediate danger it would be advisable to leave them in the same position and immediately summon help.  You could continue to treat any conditions found, but monitor for any vital signs (A, B and C) until the emergency services arrive.If the airway is obstructed, clear any obstacles that you can as it could cause the individual to die if left untreated.  Obstacles could include the tongue falling into the back of the throat; so you would carefully move it out of the way.

ACTION TO TAKE

The following gives actions that you should take to deal with an emergency situation:1.    If you are alone with the person, SHOUT for help rather leaving them on their own.2.     If possible, keep the person in the position found and open the airway. If that is not possible and the situation is dangerous very gently turn the person onto their back and open their mouth.3.    Open the airway by placing one hand on the person’s forehead and gently tilting the head backwards.  Open the mouth using 2 fingers only – this will move the person’s tongue away from the back of the mouth.4.    Look, listen and feel for no more than 10 seconds to establish whether the person begins to breathe normally.5.    Check if the chest is rising and falling as the person breathes – listen for breathing. Feel for breath against your cheek.6.    If the person is breathing normally, then place them in the recovery position that is covered in Lesson 3.

Extract from First Aid Certificate Course