In first aid, you will sometimes get lucky and know exactly what is wrong with the person that you are trying to help. More often that not, though, you will come upon a person who has just been in an accident or been injured in some other know, and you have no idea what has happened to them. In these cases, your priority is to perform an emergency medical exam and to check the ABCs of first aid: Airway, Breathing, and Circulation.
When you first step onto the scene of an emergency, it is not wise to immediately rush to the aid of the victims, no matter how much you may want to. The first things you need to do are to check for safety and to call 911.
You will not be able to help anybody if you get yourself hurt, so you need to stop, listen, and look for anything on the scene of the emergency that could hurt you. Is there a downed power line nearby? Is there a fire? Is there traffic? Look for water that make be connected to a source of electricity. People have been electrocuted while stepping through a puddle of water. If the scene is safe, call 911. You can either do this yourself or, preferable if there are others around, instruct a bystander to make the call.
Airway
Now, check the victims. See if the victim is conscious and alert, and as them what is wrong. If they are not, check their pulse and breathing. The first A, Airway, is very important. Put your ear to the victim’s face and see if you can hear breathing, and also see if the chest is rising and falling. If the airway seems to be obstructed, use your index finger (preferably while hearing gloves), but sweep the victims mouth and throat in order to remove any obstructions.
Breathing
Next, breathing. If you have cleared the airway and there is still no breathing, initiate CPR. Tilt the victim’s head back breath into their mouth, and then start chest compressions. The basic rule is 30 chest compressions for every rescue breath.
Circulation
After that comes circulation. Keep in mind that if the first thing you notice when you come to help a victim is catastrophic bleeding, you need to get that under control before worrying about airway and breathing. Otherwise, carefully inspect the victim for blood on the skin or the clothes, and treat any open wounds. Keep in mind that blood on the victim may have come from someone else, so it may not actually indicate a wound.
Once you have done that, stay with the victim and try to reassure them until help arrives. Congratulations: using the simple ABC formula, you may have just saved someone’s life.
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