What is First Aid?
First aid includes immediate care for an injured person or a person who suddenly becomes ill. It should be applied as soon as possible after an accident or in the event of a sudden illness. It is worth noting that the assistance provided before the arrival of the ambulance at the scene of the accident may save the health and even life of the injured person.
The main principles of first aid
The basic principle of first aid is to take care of the safety of the injured person, himself and other people nearby. The situation should be carefully assessed and all dangers should be eliminated. It is important to secure the location where assistance will be provided. The priority is to protect the victim's life, provide pain relief and prevent deterioration of health.
First, make sure that bystanders are safe and assess the victim's reaction (e.g. by gently shaking your shoulders and asking if everything is okay and what is going on). If the injured person reacts, their condition should be assessed and information about their complaints obtained. When the need arises, call for medical assistance. In a situation where the victim is unconscious, it is necessary to unblock his airways (one hand is placed on the victim's forehead, slightly tilting it back, the jaw is extended with the other hand). The next step is to lean over the victim and feel for breathing. This can be done in three ways - by sight (chest movement), by touch (air movement on your cheek), and by hearing (breathing sounds). You should spend about 10 seconds on such an assessment. When the breathing is normal, place the victim in a safe position and wait for help (regularly checking if the breathing is correct). It is worth remembering that correct breathing starts with 2 breaths every 10 seconds.
If the victim is not breathing, start CPR. The first thing you should do is to support your activities. Another bystander should call the emergency services and get a portable defibrillator. Resuscitation consists in compressing the chest at a depth of 5 to 6 cm, with a frequency of 100 times / min (series of 30 compressions). Hands should be clasped and placed at 1/3 of the sternum height, arms extended perpendicular to the injured person's chest. After the compressions, 2 rescue breaths are made (one hand clamps the victim's nose wings, the other hand draws the chin down, after taking a normal inhalation, the victim's mouth is covered with his mouth and air is blown for 1 second). Then resume chest compressions in a 30: 2 sequence. Resuscitation is performed until the emergency services arrive, the injured person regains consciousness, and the victim returns to normal breathing, or until the person loses their strength.
First aid and legal regulations
Polish legal regulations indicate that every witness of a situation threatening the health or life of another person should immediately take rescue measures. Failure to provide assistance is associated with a penalty of up to 3 years' imprisonment (except for circumstances in which oneself or other people would be exposed to the risk of serious damage to health or loss of life). In the case of a workplace, the employer is obliged to provide the necessary resources for first aid, evacuation or fire fighting. The employer should designate employees who will be obliged to carry out these activities. Therefore, it is worth sending your employees to a first aid course, thanks to which they will have the necessary knowledge in this field and learn how to act in theory and practice in the above-mentioned situations.
First aid course - is it worth it or not?
For many people, the timing of first aid is very stressful. This stress often does not allow for quick and adequate action in a given situation. How to deal with this state of affairs? The best option is a first aid course. Such training equips students with appropriate "tools", thanks to which they know how to behave. Such knowledge allows you to remain calm, self-confident and courageous in taking action. First aid courses can be individual or in a group of people. It is important that the first aid training is carried out professionally. Classes should include not only theoretical knowledge, but most of all practice. The theoretical part should:
- raise legal issues in a given field,
- contain information on emergency numbers and on correct notification of emergency services,
- include rules for the evacuation of injured persons
- present the proper protection of the accident site,
- include rules of proper conduct in: dressing various types of body injuries (e.g. fracture, burns, head trauma) and life and health threats (e.g. choking, epilepsy),
- include the rules of checking vital signs in injured persons,
- consider the principles of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the case of adults, and in the case of children - heart massage and artificial respiration.
The basis of good training is putting theory into practice. The practical part of such a course should include:
- organization of the evacuation of casualties,
- cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
- principles of proper positioning of the injured person in a safe position,
- help in various types of situations (e.g. traffic accidents, electric shock, drowning, fainting, etc.).
The first aid course, rich in theory and practice, is offered by KURSO, which has branches in many Polish cities. It is worth paying attention to the individual course program offered by KURSO. Training from our offers can be adapted to the individual needs of the client. Thanks to this, the course can be enriched with topics, including specific conditions for a given workplace.
