Basic First Aid Tips For Beginners

“The first thing to say about first aid is it can be stressful in an emergency,” says Laura Jones, Clinical Lead at Assured Pharmacy – so don’t worry if you’re finding any of these procedures hard to do – in more severe cases, it might be someone’s life in your hands, and that’s a lot of pressure. “If you are unsure about what to do or not sure about the severity of a situation then call 999,” Laura advises. “They are trained to help you and will be able to talk you through things like CPR. In many severe cases they will stay on the phone with you for support until the help arrives.”

Here are the steps to go through if you see an adult or a baby in the following situations…

For Adults…

Choking

1. Encourage the patient to cough. Sometimes this can be enough to clear a blockage.
2. Lean the patient forward with your hand under the chest to support them. Then with your other hand, give five sharp back blows between the shoulder blades. Check if the blockage has cleared.
3. If not, try abdominal thrusts: put your hands around their waist and bend them slightly forwards. Place one hand in a fist above the belly button and then your other hand on top. Pull inwards and upwards sharply to try and dislodge the blockage. Try this up to five times.
4. If still blocked, then call 999 and continue with the back blows and abdominal thrusts until help arrives. If the patient becomes unresponsive then let the call handler know and they may help you to administer CPR. 

Severe Bleeding

1. Firstly, check there is nothing causing a continued risk that could harm you.
2. Try and stop the bleeding – wear gloves to protect yourself if available. Apply direct pressure to the wound. (If there is an object stuck in the wound then leave it there, as it could be stopping further bleeding).
3. Call 999.
4. Help them to lie down and be comfortable if possible, and raise their legs up to help with blood flow – but don’t move the legs if this is where the injury is.
5. If there is a sterile dressing available this can be applied to the wound, otherwise continue to apply pressure until help arrives. 

Unresponsive

If they’re breathing:
1. Check their breathing and help keep the airway open by tilting the head back and lifting the chin upwards.
2. Check for normal breathing – look to see if their chest is rising and falling, feel for their breath against your cheek and listen near their mouth and nose for breathing sounds, for up to 10 seconds.
3. Place them in the recovery position.
4. Call 999 and continue to check their breathing until help arrives. 

If they’re not breathing:
1. Check for breathing and open the airway by tilting the head back and lifting the chin upwards.
2. Call 999 and be prepared to begin giving CPR. The call handler will advise you how to do this. 

Having A Seizure

Seizures are not always emergencies, but can be distressing to see.
1. The first thing is to keep them safe. Make sure they cannot harm themselves and move any objects out of the way. You could cushion their head if they are moving around but don’t hold them or put fingers in their mouth.
2. Take a note of what time the seizure starts – this will help decide what to do later on.
3. If the seizure lasts longer than five minutes then call 999.
4. If the patient comes round within five minutes they can be disorientated, so stay with them to reassure them and make sure they’re breathing normally.
5. If this is the patient’s first seizure then call 999, or if it has lasted longer than normal for that patient. 

Allergic Reaction

1. Signs to look for if someone is having an allergic reaction is swelling of face and hands, difficulty breathing or an itchy rash.
2. Call 999 even if you are not 100% sure, as this can happen quickly.
3. If the person is known to have an allergy they may carry an adrenaline injector (Epipen) with them. It should have instructions of how to use it.
4. Wait for help to arrive and let them know if you have used an adrenaline pen. 

Having A Stroke

1. There is little you can do to help a patient having a stroke – however, you can be integral in getting them the help they need.
2. The acronym you need to remember is FAST:Face – Has any part of their face drooped?
Arms – Can they raise their arms and keep them up?
Speech – Is their speech slurred?
Time – Time to call 999.
3. With a stroke, getting them treatment as soon as possible is important, so ring 999 if you suspect somebody is having or has had a stroke. 

Heart Attack

1. St John’s Ambulance say there are four Ps to look for when checking someone is having a heart attack: Pain (a continuous pain in the chest, which could spread to the jaw, neck or arms), pale skin, rapid and weak pulse and perspiration/sweating.
2. Call 999 for medical help.
3. Move them into the most comfortable position, preferably on the floor leaning against a wall with the knees bent and head and shoulder supported. This should ease the pressure on their heart and stop them hurting themselves if they collapse.
4. Keep check their breathing, pulse and level of response.
5. If they lose responsiveness at any point, open their airway, check their breathing and prepare to treat someone who has become unresponsive. You may need to do CPR.

CPR

St John’s Ambulance list CPR as the following:
1. Kneel down beside the casualty on the floor level with their chest.
2. Place the heel of one hand towards the end of their breastbone, in the centre of their chest.
3. Place the heel of your other hand on top of the first hand and interlock your fingers, making sure you keep the fingers off the ribs.
4. Lean over the casualty, with your arms straight, pressing down vertically on the breastbone, and press the chest down by 5-6cm (2-2½in).
5. Release the pressure without removing your hands from their chest. Allow the chest to come back up fully – this is one compression.
6. Repeat 30 times, at a rate of about twice a second or the speed of the song Staying Alive by The Bee Gees.
7. Give two rescue breaths – to do this, ensure the casualty’s airway is open. Pinch their nose firmly closed. Take a deep breath and seal your lips around their mouth and blow into the mouth until the chest rises. Remove your mouth and allow the chest to fall and then repeat once more.
8. Carry on giving 30 chest compressions followed by two rescue breaths for as long as you can, or until help arrives.