Chapter Four - Emergency Procedures

First Aid

When and How to call for Help:

• If an injured person is in distress but is breathing...phone for help at once.

• If the victim is not breathing...help first, and phone later or get someone else to phone.

• On the phone: give the phone number from which you are calling.

• Give the address and any special description of how to get to the victim.

• Describe the victim's condition the best that you can...burned, bleeding, broken bones, etc.

• Give your name.

• Do NOT hang up!  Let emergency persons end the conversation.  They may have questions to ask you or special information to give you about what you can do until help arrives.

What is First Aid?

First aid is the immediate response given to a person who has been injured or has been suddenly taken ill.  First aid deals with the victim's physical condition, emotional state, and the whole accident situation.

What is Urgent Care?

Urgent care is first given in a life-threatening situation - this includes stopped breathing, heart attack and stoke, heavy bleeding, poisoning, and shock.  Always take care of life threatening situations first, then seek help.

Respiratory Emergencies

1. Check to see if victim is conscious.  Tap the shoulder firmly but gently and shout "Are you Okay?"

2. Mouth-to-mouth breathing: "A quick check"

• The Airway Step:  Open the Airway - tip the head back by placing the hand that is nearer the victim's feet under the neck, near the base of the skull, and the other hand on the forehead.  Gently tip the person's head way back until the chin points straight up.  Look, listen and feel for breathing for about 5 seconds.

• The Quick Step:  If the person is not breathing, place your mouth over the victim's mouth and give 4 quick, full breaths.  Keep the head tipped back and pinch the nose to keep air from escaping.

• Check Step:  Check the pulse and breathing again.
  A= Airway
  Quick= 4 quick breaths
  Check= check pulse and breathing

3. If the person is not breathing but has a pulse, give mouth-to-mouth breathing.  Fill (an adult) victim's chest with air once every 5 seconds.  Listen and feel for air expelled between each breath.

4. After a victim start to breathe again, watch to be sure he/she keeps breathing.
5. Give care to prevent shock:

• Keep victim lying down.
• Keep victim warm.
• Raise the head and shoulders if the victim has trouble breathing or has a head injury.

Obstructed Airway

1. A person who cannot breathe, cough, or speak has a completely blocked airway.  (If the victim has great difficulty breathing, makes high pitched noises when inhaling, or a very weak cough treat them as you would an obstructed airway.)

2. If the victim is coughing forcefully, leave them entirely alone.  Encourage the person to cough and watch them closely.

3. Care to give for obstructed airway:

• Give 4 back blows:  give 4 sharp blows in rapid succession high up between the shoulder blades.  Use the heel of you hand hard enough to knock the object loose.  The victim's head should be lower than the chest if possible, so gravity will help remove the object.

• Give 4 abdominal thrusts:  just below the bottom edge of the rib cage and slightly above the navel.  Stand behind and slightly to the side of the victim.  Use a fist with thumb flat, grasp your fist with your other hand and press it into the victim's abdomen with a quick upward thrust.

• Repeat this series of 4 back blows and 4 abdominal thrusts until the victim is able to breathe or cough forcefully to clear the throat.  Repeat as long as victim is conscious.

4. If victim is unconscious:

   Place the victim on the floor or ground and give mouth-to-mouth breathing.  (See Respiratory Emergencies section above).  If the victim does not start breathing and it appears that your air is not going into the victim's lungs:

• Roll the victim onto his/her side, facing you, with the victim's chest against your knee and give 4 sharp blows between the shoulder blades. If the victim still does not start breathing...

• Roll the victim onto his or her back and give 4 manual thrusts. To give the thrusts, straddle the victim, place one of your hands on top of the other with the heel of the bottom hand in the middle of the abdomen, slightly above the navel and below the rib cage. Press into the victim's abdomen with a quick upward thrust. Do NOT press to either side. Repeat 4 times.
• Clear the airway: make a hook with the pointer finger of your hand, and in a gentle sweeping motion, reaching into the victim's throat and feel for a swallowed foreign object which may be blocking the air passage. Repeat until successful.
  • 4 back blows
  • 4 abdominal thrusts
  • probe in mouth
  • try to inflate lungs

**NOTE**
If the object has not been retrieved but the victim seems all right, play it safe...take him/her directly to the hospital. This is especially critical if the swallowed object is a fish bone, chicken bone, or other jagged object that could do internal damage as it passes through the victim's system.

Last Update: 2006-09-21