Emergency situations can occur unexpectedly, which is exactly why they are called emergencies. Whether you’re with friends at the pool, on a vacation, adventuring in the wilderness, or simply working in an office, a crisis can strike! Are you prepared to dress a wound, or prevent asphyxiation via administering, and or performing CPR?
If you feel unprepared and are wondering what the objectives of administering first aid are, the experts at Blueguard can help. We have some quick tidbits of information to enhance your knowledge about the objectives of administering first aid.
Assessing the Situation
Saving a person’s life is the goal of first aid. However, securing the scene for the safety of yourself, onlookers, and the individual is also a primary objective of first aid. Imagine if a live electric wire was in the path, or a fire was raging on, or the individual was lying in the middle of a road. You would not want to find yourself in danger, so always check the scene for safety and make adjustments as needed. After securing the safest environment possible, call for help and assess the medical situation.
Performing the ABC’s of First Aid
- Airway: Is it clear? If an individual was choking, an obstruction such as grape or other foods could prevent them from breathing and this will tell you where to begin, with the heimlich! A proper performance of the heimlich remover can potentially clear any airways and get your individual breathing clearly.
- Breathing: Perhaps you can tell that the airway is cleared, but you still don’t hear a breath or notice their chest rising and falling as it should. If you can’t find signs of breathing after 10 seconds, begin CPR.
- Circulation (CPR): After confirming lack of breath, the emergency responder can now provide chest compressions (CPR) to promote blood circulation. This typically includes laying the person on their back, administering two breaths, and 30 chest compressions.
- Defibrillation: If breath cannot be revived with chest compressions, first aid responders may use a defibrillator to provide an electric shock with assistance from the prompts of an AED machine.
Effectively Communicating with Emergency Services
Understanding how to effectively communicate with emergency services is a very important aspect of first aid. You have the potential to lead police services, ambulances, and firefighters to the correct location on the first try. This ensures a speedy response while simultaneously providing valuable, potentially lifesaving time to the injured person. A first aid course will update you on the local emergency numbers and will help you understand how to be calm, clear, and consistent with your emergency message.
Quick Action and Medication Administration for Faster Recovery
When you keep a wound from bleeding out, clean out unwanted debris and bacteria, apply pressure, and add the go-to ointments, faster recovery is bound to occur, which is an optimal outcome for your patient. Quick thinking can prevent not only further damage, but also future scaring (if applicable). If the patient is stable but in pain, the individual administering first aid can provide an over the counter drug such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen. However, it is always important to talk with the individual to ensure that they don’t have any allergies, Lastly it is important to never administer pain medication that may cause further harm (i.e. blood thinning pain relief to someone with a bleeding injury).
Master First Aid Objectives with Blueguard
Blueguard’s First Aid Courses were designed to equip people of all talent levels with the necessary knowledge to preserve and protect incapacitated individuals during nearly any emergency situation. Thoughtfully crafted with the student in mind, our first aid courses are professional and realistic for real-life emergency situations.
At Blueguard we offer first aid training courses crafted to meet your needs, including: Wilderness First Aid, Level 2 International Award in Emergency First Aid, Emergency Pediatric First Aid Course, and Advanced First Aid At Work.
Contact a member of the Blueguard team today!
Luke Cunningham
Co-Founder & Managing Director
