First Aid Info
What is First Aid Anyway?

So, you need some first aid info and maybe a little first aid history. Great! Glad you asked. Let's get started with Webster's definition (he should know).

First Aid n: Emergency care given immediately to an injured person. The purpose of first aid is to minimize injury and future disability. In serious cases, first aid may be necessary to keep the victim alive.

Short, sweet and to the point. Just like the name implies first aid literally means being there first on the scene. First to provide assistance, in other words, the most important role of all.

The good news is, first aid is a series of simple medical techniques that almost anyone can perform with minimal training and a little first aid information. This means you.

For first aid history give this a read.

The 3p's - The Primary Goals of First Aid

• Preserve life
• Prevent further injury
• Promote recovery

In order to accomplish The 3 P’s you need to follow The 3 B’s, of which include the use of the ABCs.

Stay with me, I promise all will be explained.

The 3 B's Are - The Core First Aid Skills

• Breathing
• Bleeding
• Bones

ABC is a mnemonic we use to help remember the proper procedure to follow when dealing with someone who is not breathing. Remember, the first thing we have to do is check for breathing. ABC stands for Airway, Breathing and Circulation.

It is the order of the steps taken to get a person breathing again.
The 3 B's and ABC are the foundation of your first aid training.

First Aid In Action

Let’s assume you’re walking along and you come across someone who is unconscious.

The single most important first aid training you can receive is in the diagnosis and care of an unconscious or unresponsive patient.

You are a first aid responder and you are here to preserve life. The very first thing you do is call for help. This is a vital piece of first aid information. Shout, jump up and down, use your cell phone, you are not a medical professional you are just first on the scene, call for help.

Then remembering your first aid training, The 3 B’s, you check to see if the patient is breathing. He’s not, what do you do? You use the mnemonic ABC (Airway, Breathing, Circulation).

Airway comes first, check the patient’s airway. He might be choking on something or the tongue may have fall backward and is obstructing airflow.

You can easily solved this by tipping the head backwards, which lifts the tongue clear.

The airway can also become blocked from a foreign object lodged in the larynx, commonly called choking.

Tilt his head back and he begins to breathe again. Great, well done!

You’ve completed A, opening the airway and the patient is breathing. That means B is taken care of and naturally, C, circulation, will take care of itself. Now what?

You proceed to the second two B's, bleeding and bones. You can get more first aid info on how to treat broken bones and how to stop bleeding in our First Aid For... section.

You’ve done great and you've checked over the patient while you waited for help to arrive.

Case # 2
But let's say you've opened the airway, you've completed A of the ABCs, you’ve checked for choking and foreign objects, but the patient still isn't breathing.

This is were you move on to the B and C part, breathing and circulation. You will breathe and help circulate blood for the patient because he can’t do it himself.

This is called CPR and it could be one of the single most important things you ever learn in your life. CPR is a skill that requires some training. If CPR is done incorrectly it can cause further damage to your patient.

There are certain first aid situations that can be life threatening and require some professional know how, CPR is one of them. Please do not attempt CPR without some first aid training.

Let’s get back to your patient. You, of course, have received first aid training in CPR and begin immediately. You will not be able to check for bleeding or broken bones but continue performing CPR until further help arrives. Great job! You have achieved hero status and the mayor is considering naming a street after you.

The Wrap up

Not all first aid is that dramatic, thank goodness! But it does feel good to know you can handle yourself in a crisis. Remember no one is expecting you to get a degree in medicine or master CPR. You just need enough good quality first aid information and training to be able to hold it together until professional help arrives.

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