First Aid, Its Aim, ABC

What is First Aid?

First aid is the initial and immediate aid given to anyone suffering from a minor or severe illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, to prevent the condition from worsening, or recovery to encourage. It includes early intervention in a critical condition before professional medical support is available. These supports are such as performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) while staying for an ambulance.

The complete treatment of trivial conditions includes medication such as plastering a cut. A person usually does first aid with primary medical education. Mental health first aid is an augmentation of the concept of first aid to cover mental health, while psychological first aid used as the initial treatment for those who are at risk for developing PTSD. Conflict First Aid, which focuses on the well-being and protection of an individual’s social or relationships, is being conducted in Canada.

Many circumstances may require first aid, and many countries have legislation, regulation, or guidance that requires a bare minimum level of first aid provision in certain circumstances. It may include specific training or equipment to be available in the workplace (such as an automated external defibrillator), specialist first aid cover in public ceremonies, or the provision of compulsory first aid training within schools. However, first aid does not require any special equipment or prior knowledge, and improvisation can be incorporated by untrained people with materials available at the time.

First aid can be performed on almost all animals, such as first aid for pets, although this article deals with the care of human patients.

Aim of First Aid

The initial goal of first aid is to prevent death or severe injury from worsening. The primary objectives of first aid summarized as ‘three P’s:

“PPP”

1. Preserve life

The overriding aim of all medical care that includes first aid is to save lives and reduce the risk of death.

Ease the pain – First aid has done correctly so that the patient’s pain levels reduced, and they can calm during the evaluation and treatment process.

2. Prevent further losses

Prevention of further damage involves addressing both external factors, such as taking a patient away from any cause of suffering and applying first aid techniques to prevent the condition from worsening, such as avoiding bleeding. It has become dangerous to apply pressure.

3. Promote recovery

First aid also involves trying to begin the process of recovering from illness or injury, and in some cases, may include completing treatment, such as in the case of plastering over a small injury.

It is crucial to note that first aid is not a medical treatment and cannot be compared to a comparison done by a trained medical professional. First aid involves making frequent sense decisions in the best interests of the injured person.

Another set of goals to keep a severely injured person alive is sometimes called “ABC.”

Principle of First Aid

Protocols like ATLS, BATLS, SAFE-POINT based on the principle of defining priorities and the process where the correct execution of individual steps achieves the objective necessary to save human life. The essential points of these protocols include:

Catastrophic bleeding (massive external bleeding)

Airway (clearing the airway)

Inhalation (ensure respiration)

Circulation (internal bleeding)

Disability (a neurological condition)

Environment (Overall Examination, Environment)

A significant advantage of these protocols is that they require minimal resources, time, and skills, with a higher level of success in saving lives in adverse conditions for first aid.

ABC of First Aid

Some skills are considered essential to the provision of first aid and taught ubiquitously. In particular, the “ABC” of first aid, which focuses on severe life-saving interventions, should be provided before treatment for less severe injuries.

ABC means airway, breathing, and circulation. Emergency health professionals use the same epidemic. Attention must initial be brought to the airway to ensure this. The obstruction (knee) is a fatal emergency. After airway assessment, a first aid attendant will determine the adequacy of breathing and provide rescue breathing if necessary.

Circulation is no longer commonly assessed for patients who are not breathing, with first aid now trained to perform direct chest contractions (and thus provide artificial flow) but less severe. The pulse can be checked on patients.

The priorities of first aid are:

A – Airway

B – Breathing

C – Circulation (And Bleeding)

Only then look at broken bones & burns.

1. A – Airway

The airway of an unconscious person can be blocked or narrowed, that might make breathing impossible, noisy or hard. It happens because the tongue drops back, thereby preventing the throat. Tilting the head back and lifting the chin lifts the tongue away from the entrance to the air passage.

Here, one needs to place two fingers under the point of person’s chin, & raise the jaw while placing the other hand over the forehead and tilting the head back. In case the head is injured, you should tilt the head very carefully, and open the airway.

2. B – Breathing

Check for breathing by putting your hear near the person’s mouth and nose. Feel for breath on your cheek or moisture on the back of your hand.

In case of emergency, you can seek for attention. You shouldn’t do everything at once because it will let you be distracted from the key factors. Therefore, on arriving at the scene, you should do the following things:

Assess the situation Make the area safe

Look for dangers to yourself and the casualty

Take in quickly what has happened.

Assess casualties

The unconscious person will take priority and required quick help to ensure they can breathe. Only then you should begin to assess the injury.

If a person has stopped breathing, you can use mouth to mouth ventilation. Also, ensure that the airway is opened and the head is tilted back. So, pinch the nostrils, take a deep breath and blow into the mouth. Then firmly seal your lips around the mouth so that air is not lost. Then, you’ll see the chest rise. Remove your lips and let the chest fall. Continue this by giving about 10 breathes every min until breathing begins or help arrives.

3. C – Circulation

Here, you need to check for circulation and see whether the heart is beating by feeling Adam’s apple with two fingers. Slide the fingers to the side of the windpipe and feel the pulse. In case the heart has stopped beating, use chest compression and try to restart the heart.

Place your hand flat right above the point whether the rib meets the breastbone and bring the other hand on top of it and lock your fingers together. Then, with your arms straight, press down on the breast bone pushing it down by 4 to 5 cm.

Then release the pressure and repeat the compression at a rate of about 80/min. If the person is still not breathing, alternate 15 compressions with two breathe until help arrives.

Stop bleeding by applying firm pressure to the wound for around 15 mins and never use any tourniquet.

First Aid Kit and Medicines

Everyone these days must use a first aid kit at some time. So, make time to prepare home & travel kits for you and your family’s safety. First aid kits may be comprehensive or essential.

What you require depends on the medical training and your distance from the expert’s therapeutic help. Further, the readymade first aid kits are commercially available from outdoor retailers to chain stores. However, it is easy to make inexpensive and smart first aid kits yourself.