Approaching a first aid situation may encourage nerves to arise, however, that doesn’t have to be the case. Prepare yourself, get assistance and improve the state of the person needing help. All of these areas combined can heighten the confidence of those involved and provide some peace in a time of need.
What is First Aid
Understanding the definition of first aid provides the knowledge needed to approach a situation and how to proceed in the event of an emergency.
If an emergency situation does arise, the correct kit and knowing the steps in which to proceed can provide the best outcome.
- Check the scene and obtain PPE appropriate for the circumstances.
- Identify if the person is responsive, breathing, bleeding or has other threatening conditions.
- If the person is unresponsive, not fully awake, not breathing, only gasping or has life-threatening bleeding or any other form of a life-threatening condition, call 999 and get equipment. If you’re unable to do so, tell another person to carry out these tasks.
- If the person is responsive, find out what happened and gather other useful information such as symptoms, injuries, allergies and medications.
- Once all the information has been gathered, proceed to call 999 if you haven’t done so already and get equipment to stabilise the injured person whilst you wait for assistance.
Clarifying a situation
As mentioned within the step-by-step, identifying the issues and injuries which another person has encountered is important as it’ll help you know how to proceed. Typically, the worse the injury, the sooner emergency services will need to be contacted and brought to the site for their expertise to be put into action. It may even require the need for the patient to be taken to the hospital for further treatment and monitoring.
First Aid equipment
The range of first aid equipment may be slightly larger than you may initially realise. Ranging from gloves to large specialty first aid kits, the need for equipment may depend on what you’ll require. For example, if you’re working near dangerous materials, high-temperatures or anything along these lines, there’s a larger chance of specific injuries so ensuring you have a kit nearby could mean the difference between quick fixes and long-lasting injuries.
As an example, a burn-specific injury would require a kit such as the Burns First Aid Kit. Whereas, a chemical injury would need a kit such as the Hydrofluoric Acid Treatment Kit.
We understand that some workplaces or communities will need to get an appropriately sized kit for their needs. This is why we have a varied offering of first aid kits and other supporting equipment. We suggest viewing our available kits and finding the correct one to suit your needs.
Fire escape items also come under our offering of first aid equipment. The use of such equipment such as the evacuation chair, head immobiliser for spine or head injuries, medical screens and more, can also be found on our website.
First aid needn’t stop at the initial phases. The process of ensuring someone’s comfort and carrying out correct stable care until emergency services arrive is a must.
First Aid Training
If you’re looking to gain some guidance regarding how to perform first aid and the processes to take when a person is in need, we also offer first aid training. Our sourced professionals will be able to cover all the important areas to ensure you’re prepared for when the worst happens. The training provided comes to your venue of choice, such as a workplace, and includes Defib and CPR training. Explore more about our training today.