INTRODUCTION TO FIRST AID

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this session, the participants should be able to accurately:

 Define first aid

 Explain first aid in responding to emergencies and disasters.
 Enumerate goals of first aid.
 Enumerate responsibilities of first aid provider
 Enumerate limitations of first aid
 Identify characteristics of the effective first aid provider

FIRST AID

Helping behaviors and initial care provided for an illness or injury.

GOALS OF FIRST AID

 Prevent further injury

 Preserve life
 Alleviate suffering
 Promote recovery

RESPONSIBILITES

 Bridge the gap between the victim and the health care provider.
 Ensure his own safety, that of the victim’s and of bystander
 Gain access to the victim
 Determine threats to the victim’s life.

RESPONSIBLITIES OF THE FIRST AID PROVIDER

 Bridge the gap between the victim and the health care provider.
 Ensure his own safety, that of the victim’s and of bystanders
 Gain access to the victim
 Determine threats to the victim’s life
 Call for more medical assistance as needed
 Provide emergency care to the victim
 Assist health care providers when they arrive
 Provide emergency care to the victim
 Assist health care providers when they arrive
 Handover to medical services or properly trained and authorized personnel

LIMITATIONS OF FIRST AID

 Limited skill range

 Limited medical knowledge
  Minimal or no medical resources
 Legal concerns

REPUBLIC ACT 3815

Article 12, section 4 of the Philippine Revised Penal Code Book 1: Any person who, while performing a
lawful act with due care, causes an injury by mere accident without fault or intention of causing it is
exempt from criminal liability.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE FIRST AID PROVIDER

 Gentle
 Resourceful
 Observant
 Tactful
 Empathetic
 Respectable

STEPS IN FIRST AID: EMERGENCY ACTION PRINCIPLE

Steps in First Aid: EMERGENCY ACTION PRINCIPLE

 Scene size-up
 Activate medical assistance
 Primary assessment
 Secondary assessment

SCENE SIZE-UP

Scene safety:

 Don’t engage if it’s unsafe

 Secure the scene

Know what happened:

 Mechanism of injury
 Nature of illness

ACTIVATE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE

Call for help

 National emergency hotline 911

CALL FIRST

 Adults and adolescents witnessed collapse of children and infants

 If you are alone with no mobile phone, leave the victim to activate emergency response system
and get AED/emergency equipment before beginning CPR/
 Otherwise, send someone and begin CPR immediately; use the AED as soon as it is available.
CARE FIRST

 Adults and adolescents with likely asphyxia arrest

 Unwitnessed collapse of children and infant

1. Give 2 minutes (5 cycles) of CPR

2. Leave the victim to activate emergency response system and get the AED

3. Return to the child or infant and resume CPR; use the AED as soon as it is available

PRIMARY ASSESSMENT

Goal: to identify and initiate treatment of immediate or potential life threats.

 RESPONSIVENESS
 AIRWAY
 BREATHING
 CIRCULATION

Responsiveness

 awake/ alert
 verbal, responsive to verbal stimuli
 pain, responsive to pain stimuli
 unresponsive

Airway

 Able to speak/cry = open airway

 Note quality of speaking/crying

Breathing

 Check for signs of breathing (within 10 seconds)

 See the chest rise and fall

Circulation

 Skin-color: reddish! whitish? bluish! - temp: cold! clammy? hot! sweaty? very dry?
 Pulse - For responsive victim, check for peripheral pulses

Objective

Were we able to meet the objectives?

 Scene Size-up
 Activate Medical Assistance Primary Assessment
 Trauma Injuries

Wounds
Objectives:

 At the end of this session, the participants should be able to:

 Identify the various types of wounds.
 Explain the principles behind the first aid interventions for wounds.
 Apply first aid to persons with wounds.
 Recognize life threatening blooding

Wounds

 Injuries to soft tissue that damages the skin and the structures underlying it
 First aid depends on types of wound:
 Closed
 Open

Closed wounds

 No break on the surface of the skin

 Application of external forces
 bruise, contusion
 redness
 swelling
 hematoma
 Closed wounds
 No break on the surface of the skin
 Application of external forces
 bruise, contusion
 redness
 swelling
 hematoma
 severe bruising = possible internal bleeding

First Aid Intervention:

 Wash with large amounts of clean water

 Pressure dressing
 Bring victim to health care facility

First aid for closed wounds

  Cold compress done within 15 (range to 20 mins) every 20 minutes until referred
 Cold compress done within 15 (range of 10-20 mins) minutes every 2 hours on the first 24 hours,
for home remedies
 Hot compress for 15 minutes 3x a day after 24 hours
 Keep affected part elevated when possible

Abrasion

Clinical Presentations, Signs and Symptoms:

 affects the top layer of the skin

 priority: prevent infection

First Aid Intervention:

 Wash with soap & water

 Apply mild antiseptic
 Keep surface exposed

Laceration

Clinical Presentations, Signs and Symptoms:

 tear on surface of the skin

 more severe bleeding
 goal: control bleeding

First Aid Intervention:

 Wash with large amounts of clean water

 Control bleeding by direct pressure using clean dressing
 For persistent bleeding: apply 2nd dressing over first, use elastic
 bandage
 Bring victim to health care facility

Incision

Clinical Presentation, Signs and Symptoms

 Cut or wound of body tissue caused by sharp edged object or material

  Synonyms: gash, laceration, rent, rip, slash, slit, tear


First Aid Intervention:

 Wash with large amounts of clean water

 Control bleeding by direct pressure using clean dressing
 Persistent bleeding apply 2nd dressing over first: elastic bandage
 Bring victim to health care facility
 First aid intervention for incision will be the same as for secretion

Puncture

 Clinical Presentations, Signs and Symptoms:

 entry of sharp, pointed object
 can cause massive internal bleeding
 very painful

First Aid Intervention:

 Wash with large amounts of clean water

 Apply mild antiseptic
 Cover the wound
 Bring victim to health care facility

Amputation

Clinical Presentations, Signs and Symptoms:

 total separation of body part or limb

 massive bleeding
 very painful

First Aid Intervention:

 Control bleeding using pressure dressings

 Cover detached part with moist dressing, place in clean plastic bag, place in bag with ice
 Apply tourniquet to minimize or control massive bleeding
 Bring victim and detached part to health care facility

Avulsion

 Clinical Presentations, Signs and Symptoms:

 skin and tissues under it torn off from surface
 severe bleeding
 very painful
Impaled wounds

 Clinical Presentations, Signs and Symptoms:

 foreign object that penetrates the skin and remains embedded in tissue

First Aid Intervention

 Do NOT remove unless causing airway obstruction

 Control bleeding using pressure dressing around impaled object
 Stabilize impaled object using bulky soft dressing or bandages (doughnut ring)
 Protect impaled object from being moved
 Bring to health care facility immediately

Evisceration

Clinical Presentations, Signs and Symptoms:

 severe open wounds in abdominal wall may expose organs

→ organs protrude out of wound

First Aid Intervention:

 Do NOT touch or push back exposed organs

 Cover wound with moist, clean dressing
 Do NOT use dressing material that sticks to exposed organs or that breaks up when wet
 Bring to health care facility immediately

Human bite wounds

Clinical presentations, signs and symptoms:

 Caused by the piercing of skin by human teeth

 Bacteria are usually present and serious infection often follows
 Also known as fight bites.

First aid intervention

 Thoroughly wash with an antiseptic or soap and water, rinse well

 Cover wound with moist, clean dressing
 Bring to health care facility, for advanced intervention
 Call 911
 Control bleeding
 Bring victim to health care facility
What is “Life-Threatening” bleeding?

 Blood that is spurting out of the wound

 Blood that won’t stop coming out of the wound
 Blood that is pooling on the ground
 Clothing that is soaked with blood

Control bleeding

 Body will not tolerate 20% blood loss

Adult = 1 liter

Children = 100-200 ml

 Control bleeding using direct pressure

If you don’t have a trauma first aid kit:

Apply direct pressure on the wound:

 Take any clean cloth and cover the wound

 If the wound is large and deep, try to stuff the cloth down into the wound
 Apply continuous pressure with both hands directly on top of the bleeding wound
 Push down as hard as you can
 Hold pressure to stop bleeding.

Bandage

 Maintains pressure for controlling bleeding

 Keeps dressing in place

HEAT RELATED ILLNESS

Summer heat waves can be dangerous. A very high body temperature can damage the brain and other
vital organs, If your body is overheating, and you have a high temperature, bumps on your skin, muscle
spasms, headache, dizziness, nausea or a number of other symptoms, you may have one of the most
common heat-related illness. Heat rash, heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Heat illnesses
range from mild to severe and heat stroke can be deadly. A heat illness is one caused by high
temperatures and humidity. You may get illness or working in high heat and humidity.

Common Types of Heat Illness

1. Heat Stroke- the most serious heat related illnesses. It occurs when the body can no longer control its
temperature. The body's temperature rises rapidly, the sweating mechanisms fails, the body is unable to
cool down. When heat stroke occurs, the body temperature can rise to 106°F or higher within 10 to 15
minutes. Heat stroke can cause permanent disability or even death.

Symptoms

● Loss of Consciousness (Coma)

● Hot, dry skin or profuse sweating

● Seizures

● Very high blood temperature

● Headache

● Rapid Pulse

● Extremely Thirsty

● Swollen Tongue

First Aid

● Call for emergency medical care.

● Stay with the patient until the emergency medical services arrive.

● Move the patient to a shaded and cool area. Remove the outer clothing.

● Cool the patient using wet cloth with cold water.

2. Heat Exhaustion - the body's response to an excessive loss of water and salt, usually through excessive
sweating. Heat exhaustion is most likely to affect: the elderly, people with high blood pressure and those
working in a hot environment.

Symptoms

● Headache

● Nausea and Vomiting

● Fatigue, weakness

● Thirsty

● Anxiety

● Poor coordination

● Weak and rapid Pulse

● Sweating Heavily

● Raised body temperature

First Aid

● Take the patient to a clinic or emergency room for medical treatment or evaluation.

● Call medical care

● Remove the patient from the hot area and give liquid to drink

● Remove unnecessary clothing

● Cool the patient with cold compression

Who gets Heat Illnesses?

If you work outside or inside in a hot and humid environment, you are more likely to endure a heat
illness. Examples of people who might be in such an environment:

● Construction Worker

● Athletes

● Military Personnel

● Firefighters

● Landscapers

● Farmers

Tips for preventing Heat Related Illness

● Drink plenty of water

● Stay cool indoors

● Wear light clothing and sunscreen

● Rest

● Take a cool bath during hot weather