One of the most remembered pieces of advice I have carried through life came from my early years of training as a St John Ambulance Cadet. We were fortunate in those days as we benefited from training delivered by First Aid Ambulance Officers, qualified 'Sisters' from the local Hospital and also local Doctors who were all members of my local St John Division. The advice was this:
The first thing you should do in an emergency is zip, zilch ... N O T H I N G
How true is this? How often do we all go rushing in boots and all, with no regard for anyone's safety and no idea of what we are going to do.
The advice continued as follows:
Spend the initial few moments asking yourself
What has happened here?
Is it safe to investigate further (for me, for any bystanders and for the casualty)?
And if it is. . .
What am I going to do?
The answer to the last question is easy. It has been laid out carefully for us all.
The all important EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN
D R A B C D
Watch for the bolded words belowWe shall firstly check for
D for Danger then if safe check for R for Response using the Touch and Talk method (no more shaking and shouting) and WE CALL OUT Can You Hear Me Open Your Eyes What's your Name Squeeze my hand (COWS).
If we get no response we Check the A for Airway by opening the mouth. If there is a blockage the casualty is turned onto their side into the lateral position and we
clear the airway firstly by using a finger sweep in the front part of the mouth
only, to clear any foreign matter then
OPEN THE AIRWAY BY using the correct head tilt as discussed in a previous blog.
Now check for breathing by placing one hand on the lower chest/abdomen area to feel for a chest rise and fall.
At the same time place your ear next to their nose/mouth to listen for sounds of B for Breathing and look at the chest. This all takes about ten seconds.
WHETHER BREATHING OR NOT - CALL FOR AN AMBULANCE
In Australia you call 000 or 112 on your mobile. All other countries - check your local emergency number but the 112 on the mobile (cell phone) is pretty universal.When the ambulance has been called begin CPR - Give two breaths - place hands on chest as instructed in my previous Blog and begin C for Compressions at the rate of 2 breaths to 30 compressions, depressing one third of the depth of the chest.
DO NOT waste precious time giving breaths before the ambulance has been called. If the heart has stopped beating or is about to, your breaths are just a plain waste of precious time. GET THE EXPERTS ON THEIR WAY TO YOU like NOWWWWW.
What you need is a D for DEFIBRILLATOR and OXYGEN DELIVERY UNIT both of which are carried in ambulances along with lots of other useful products and implements.
I do hope this helps anyone who has previously not understood the process of handling an emergency.
Tomorrow I will be undertaking further training in defibrillation. If there is anything new to report I shall blog it to you.
