Post by Q on Apr 7, 2010 21:28:10 GMT -6
This is the first step in first aid and is definately the most important. You can't stabilize someone unless you know what's wrong with them.
The first step is Responsiveness because if they are responsive, they can speed up the process of checking for wounds by telling you what hurts.
The next thing you're going to do is check their A, B, C's. That means, check their Airway to make sure it's unobstructed, Breathing to ensure that they are breathing, and Circulation. To check for a pulse, go to where the chin meets the neck, and go left or right of the trachea about an inch. There are many alternate spots to check, but this one is the most reliable and easiest to find. Also, don't check for a pulse with your thumb. There is actually a faint pulse in your thumb, and this can throw off feeling a pulse and getting a count of beats per minute.
The way I learned the steps of evaluating a casualty is with a phrase. Really Bad Boys Should Find Better Habbits. This phrase stands for Responsiveness, Breathing, Bleeding, Shock, Fractures, Burns, and Head Trauma. They are arranged in this order for a reason.
The next steps are arranged from the most to least life threatening.
1. Breathing. Without oxygen, the brain will start taking damage in a handful of seconds, and the heart will shut down not long after.
How to Check: Position your head so that your ear is over their mouth and you are looking down their body. You'll be able to hear their breathing and feel it on your ear, and you're looking for the rise and fall of their chest to indicate breathing.
2. Bleeding. Depending on extent and severity of bleeding, the average human can bleed out and die of exsanguination in as little as thirty seconds.
How to Check: Look for pools of blood on the ground to determine areas of major bleeding. Blood also has a distinct, iron-y smell to it. Failing that, pat down the body gently but quickly to see if you can feel any "wet spots" through the clothing.
3. Shock. Shock is the body's reaction to trauma, especially a loss of volume of blood due to bleeding. It pulls blood in from the surface to the core to keep the vital organs saturated with blood.
How to Check: Examine the patient for cool, clamy skin, rapid eye movement, paleness of skin, poor capillary refill (squeeze a finger and watch how long it takes to regain color), confusion, thirst. Thirst is especially important to remember. Wet their lips, but do not let them drink. There is confusion between how thirsty they feel and what they actually need, and they will drink too much. This will cause them to vomit, which may make the shock worse.
4. Fractures. I probably don't have to explain fractures too much. The life threatening ones are known as simple and compound. Simple is where the bone breaks, but stays inside the skin. Compound means that the end of the bone has pierced the skin.
How to Check: Obvious indicators are limbs that are at funny angles, hands or feet facing the wrong directions, and a large white object protruding from the skin. Less obvious ones are tenderness at the sight, discolored skin, and large bumps.
5. Burns. Burns can be tricky since there are a number of different types, each doing damage in a different way. They are dangerous because the skin at the sight of a burn can't retain body heat, and they make it incredibly easy to catch an infection.
How to Check: It may sound gross, but if there is burned flesh, you'll smell it before you see it. Clothing that appears to be stuck to the skin, dark red or brown colored flesh, "sliding skin". For electrical burns, the current will travel through and exit the body, so look for an "exit burn" as well, though it probably won't be exactly opposite the "entry burn".
6. Head Trauma. I know what you're thinking, I thought the same thing when I learned this too. "Head Trauma's last? But the head's important, that's where the brain lives!" Truth is when it comes to the brain, if it didn't kill you instantly, it'll likely take a while to kill you.
How to Check: You'll be looking for odd things around the head, such as uneven pupils, clear fluid or blood coming from the eyes, ears, or nose, or obvious swelling of the head or external bleeding.
Always remember, treat as you go and treat the big things first. If they have a paper cut on their thumb and and spurting blood from the thigh, you should stop the thigh's bleeding first.
You can also check for multiple things at the same time. This works well with Bleeding, Burns, and Fractures.
The first step is Responsiveness because if they are responsive, they can speed up the process of checking for wounds by telling you what hurts.
The next thing you're going to do is check their A, B, C's. That means, check their Airway to make sure it's unobstructed, Breathing to ensure that they are breathing, and Circulation. To check for a pulse, go to where the chin meets the neck, and go left or right of the trachea about an inch. There are many alternate spots to check, but this one is the most reliable and easiest to find. Also, don't check for a pulse with your thumb. There is actually a faint pulse in your thumb, and this can throw off feeling a pulse and getting a count of beats per minute.
The way I learned the steps of evaluating a casualty is with a phrase. Really Bad Boys Should Find Better Habbits. This phrase stands for Responsiveness, Breathing, Bleeding, Shock, Fractures, Burns, and Head Trauma. They are arranged in this order for a reason.
The next steps are arranged from the most to least life threatening.
1. Breathing. Without oxygen, the brain will start taking damage in a handful of seconds, and the heart will shut down not long after.
How to Check: Position your head so that your ear is over their mouth and you are looking down their body. You'll be able to hear their breathing and feel it on your ear, and you're looking for the rise and fall of their chest to indicate breathing.
2. Bleeding. Depending on extent and severity of bleeding, the average human can bleed out and die of exsanguination in as little as thirty seconds.
How to Check: Look for pools of blood on the ground to determine areas of major bleeding. Blood also has a distinct, iron-y smell to it. Failing that, pat down the body gently but quickly to see if you can feel any "wet spots" through the clothing.
3. Shock. Shock is the body's reaction to trauma, especially a loss of volume of blood due to bleeding. It pulls blood in from the surface to the core to keep the vital organs saturated with blood.
How to Check: Examine the patient for cool, clamy skin, rapid eye movement, paleness of skin, poor capillary refill (squeeze a finger and watch how long it takes to regain color), confusion, thirst. Thirst is especially important to remember. Wet their lips, but do not let them drink. There is confusion between how thirsty they feel and what they actually need, and they will drink too much. This will cause them to vomit, which may make the shock worse.
4. Fractures. I probably don't have to explain fractures too much. The life threatening ones are known as simple and compound. Simple is where the bone breaks, but stays inside the skin. Compound means that the end of the bone has pierced the skin.
How to Check: Obvious indicators are limbs that are at funny angles, hands or feet facing the wrong directions, and a large white object protruding from the skin. Less obvious ones are tenderness at the sight, discolored skin, and large bumps.
5. Burns. Burns can be tricky since there are a number of different types, each doing damage in a different way. They are dangerous because the skin at the sight of a burn can't retain body heat, and they make it incredibly easy to catch an infection.
How to Check: It may sound gross, but if there is burned flesh, you'll smell it before you see it. Clothing that appears to be stuck to the skin, dark red or brown colored flesh, "sliding skin". For electrical burns, the current will travel through and exit the body, so look for an "exit burn" as well, though it probably won't be exactly opposite the "entry burn".
6. Head Trauma. I know what you're thinking, I thought the same thing when I learned this too. "Head Trauma's last? But the head's important, that's where the brain lives!" Truth is when it comes to the brain, if it didn't kill you instantly, it'll likely take a while to kill you.
How to Check: You'll be looking for odd things around the head, such as uneven pupils, clear fluid or blood coming from the eyes, ears, or nose, or obvious swelling of the head or external bleeding.
Always remember, treat as you go and treat the big things first. If they have a paper cut on their thumb and and spurting blood from the thigh, you should stop the thigh's bleeding first.
You can also check for multiple things at the same time. This works well with Bleeding, Burns, and Fractures.