
What is First Aid?
First aid is the emergency help or
treatment that one is accorded in the event of sudden illness or injury before
regular medical services can be offered.
It is recommended that such aid be offered
by a trained first aider to avoid further complications or injury. Since anyone
can be affected by these emergencies, it is important that everyone has some
basic first aid skills in order to help others at home, at school, socially and
at the work place.
First aid training is made available by
various organisations around the world such as the Red Cross Society, Flying
Doctors and St. John’s Ambulance.
What basic first aid training entails:
Casualty care and communication.
This deals with how a person should talk
to the casualty before, during and after first aid.
It is very important to have a
conversation with the casualty in order to know how to address their issue.
Casualty care involves knowing how to handle the casualty in terms of hygiene,
positioning and even the environment in which they should be handled in order to
improve their condition.
Caring for yourself and the casualty.
The safety measures that one should observe
to prevent risks such as catching infections when administering first aid.
Treating burns and minor bleeding.
Basic first aid training covers burns and
minor bleeding. These are two things that occur more often in our daily lives
therefore it is important to be equipped with skills on how to handle them properly
when they occur.
How to treat an unresponsive casualty.
Sometimes a casualty may not respond to
the treatment that is offered to them. This is a situation that can at times be
life threatening and handling it needs skill and patience. First aid training will
equip you with skills on how to approach it.
First aid priorities and scene management.
Here, one is taught on what treatment
should be done step by step and how to keep the scene conducive for the
recovery of the casualty.
Importance of first aid training.
The benefits of being trained on first aid
cannot be overlooked. First aid training helps to save lives. So many
people lose their lives due to a lack of basic first aid assistance being
applied until the professionals arrive. With knowledge, we could all help in
such circumstances.
First Aid training is essential for those
living with people who need continuous monitoring. Such people could be
suffering from anaemia, diabetes or epilepsy. Having first aid skills will
prove reassuring in the event of an ‘episode’ because knowledge reduces the
seriousness of what can appear to be an emergency.
In summary.
Everyone is eligible for first aid
training. These acquired, lifelong skills cover all sorts of eventualities and
since it is not possible to predict when and where an emergency may occur, we
can be confident that we will be able to be useful if and when one
happens.
Remember, Mayfair Cares.
References:
https://www.firstaidae.com.au/about-first-aid-ae/why-is-first-aid-important/
http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/first-aid-training-courses.aspx
http://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/first-aid/first-aid-training