5 First Aid Tips That Could Save Someone’s Life

Saturday, I got certified in first aid.  Yay!

Ok, totally random photo, but gets my feelings.  Anyway, the course began with CPR, which for me was for the third so less exciting, but the First Aid component was FASCINATING. The three biggest learned:

A) Everything in Australia wants to kill you.  From spiders to snakes to killer shells (seriously) this country is out to get you, so it’s good to be prepared.

B) Everything I thought I knew about First Aid was pretty much wrong. Except for the basics, like RICE for an injury, I knew absolutely nothing.

C) First Aid is something everyone should do. Seriously, I had no idea how many simple things could save a life.  Things that you can learn in a few hours can truly make the difference between life and death.  It’s not just for paramedics and nurses, everyone should be familiar with and take First Aid.

Here are some of the biggest tips I learned that are some of the most important. Not to mention, the ones I had totally wrong. NOTE: Some of these tips are a bit graphic, so if talk of body parts or blood makes you squeamish, you’ve been warned.

1. If someone has a head injury, and has a hat or helmet on, DO NOT REMOVE IT.  If someone hurt their head and are bleeding, the hat or helmet can be packing the blood in and preventing it from bleeding more profusely.
2. If someone is having an asthma attack, has ventilin and asks for help, the ventilin should be delivered by a spacer in puffs of 4x4x4: 1 puff, 4 breaths, 4 times, every 4 minutes. If no spacer is available, you can use a rolled up newspaper or magazine.
3. The signs for a stroke are F.A.S.T. – Face drooping, Arms – can they raise them, Speech – can they talk, be understood, or understand, and if any of these things are happening, they are Time critical – call 911, 000, or 112.
4. If someone has hypothermia, warming them up needs to be a slow process. Don’t put them under a head lamp or heat pack, and DON’T massage arms or legs.  Just wrap them in a warm compress, or a thermal blanket (best choice) and let them heat up naturally.
5. And for those Australian’s out there – NEVER wash a bite site.  Cover it in plastic wrap, so doctor’s can identify the poison, and wrap the wrist strongly in bandages. Go to the hospital.

I hope these are helpful and that you never ever need them.  Have a great day!