Awareness of simple first aid

As teachers, it becomes a requirement for us to be trained in simple first aid so that we are better in coping with unexpected emergency.

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It is also important as parents to know basic first aid to avoid common old folk methods that can cause more harm than help.

I have gathered some videoclips as a nice refresher for your first aid knowledge.

CPR and AED

When we encounter an unconscious casualty, we need to stay calm.

The most important is to check whether we are in a safe location. This is to ensure our own safety as well as the casualty’s safety.

We should get passer-by to call for an ambulance immediately while we provide first aid to sustain the casualty’s life before help comes.

When the casualty does not need CPR after assessing, we should just place the casualty in the recovery position.

The below is a video about recovery position.

The below is a training video to perform CPR and AED after we have assessed the need for it.

Sprains and strains

In school, our students often play in a dangerous manner during their break.

Sprains and strains are very common issues that we have to face with.

As teachers, we should always advise students to play safely but we still need to attend to the injury when it does happen.

We will first examine the symptoms of sprains and strains.

• Description of the degree of pain if possible

• The injured part mobility

• Any swell or bruise

The most common procedure is the use RICE.

Rest – Injured area should be placed in a comfortable position immediately and use a splint to provide extra support if it hurts to move.

Ice – Use a plastic zip-lock bag with water and crushed ice or a cold pack on the injured area to limit swelling. Every 2 to 4 hours, apply the ice on injured area and stop if injured part feels numbness.

Compress – In simple, we usually use a bandage to wrap the ice pack around the injured area to prevent and reduce swelling.

Elevate – Lift the injured hand above the waist or getting the injured person to rest on a sofa or bed with the injured leg lifted by pillows to prevent further swelling.

The videoclip below provides information of how to treat sprains and strains.

Use of heat

We can also use heat to relieve pain and relax the muscle that leads to increase of blood flow. Heat can only be used after 48 hours as using it before this time can cause swelling to the injured area.

The use of Bandage

There are many reasons for the use of bandage.

The following are 3 possible reasons:

• Immobilise the injured area and restrict movement

• Support and prevent injured area from contamination

• Provide pressure on injured area that can reduce bleeding as well as swelling

The below is a videoclip of some simple bandaging methods

In conclusion

I am definitely not an expert in first aid and this article is also a good reminder to me.

I had a student who fainted in class this year and I managed to apply simple first aid after attended my refresher course.

We can never know when an emergency can happen so it is good to have some first aid knowledge.

As teachers, we want to keep our students safe and we want to provide help and assistance as much as we can when injuries do happen.

There are other types of injuries that I have not touched on in this article so further reading will be necessary if you are interested to find out more.

Reference:

Auerbach, P. S. (2015). Medicine for the Outdoors E-Book: The Essential Guide to First Aid and Medical Emergencies. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Disclaimer: This is my personal reflection and I am not in any position to instruct anyone what they should do. I am not responsible for any action taken as a result of this post. My post can only be a reference for your further research and growth. By reading this post, you acknowledge and accept that. All images and pictures were taken from google images that are free from copyright under labelled for reuse.

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://fun2learn.vornix.blog/2018/09/12/awareness-of-simple-first-aid/

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