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You are probably familiar with the term ‘first aid’. But do you know why first aid is so important? Why do we need to know about the principles of first aid? Or what are the consequences if we fail to provide first aid at the right time? And why do we need first aid tools and First Aiders in our school and workplace?
Well, in this article, you will get all the answers and learn about the principles of first aid.
Table of Contents
What is First Aid?
First Aid is the initial treatment that is provided to the victim. It helps prevent the victim’s condition from worsening until medical treatment is available. Sometimes, it takes a lot of time to receive medical help. By this time, the condition of the injured people can deteriorate. However, proper first aid treatment can lower the severity of accidents and injuries.
Accidents can happen at any time in our lives, and we cannot predict the severity of those circumstances. But one thing we can do is to prepare ourselves for those situations and try our best to prevent the intensity of the injuries. But how can we do that? With the knowledge of first aid, we can easily give ease to the sufferer.
What are the Aims of First Aid?
So, why do we provide first aid? What are the aims of first aid? We provide first aid for the following reasons –
- preserve life,
- prevent injury from getting worse,
- aid recovery,
- relieve pain,
- protect the unconscious.
Basically, first aid aims to diminish the effect of an accident or illness and efficiently lessen the pain of the affected person by providing them instant medical help.
What is the Symbol for First Aid?
In an emergency situation, we often look for signs to guide us. This emergency can be a medical emergency, and we may need a first aid box. That’s why we need to know the universal symbol of first aid. And an image always catches our attraction more than words. Therefore, putting a symbol on the box of First Aid will help us find the tools easily.
The worldwide used First Aid symbol is the white cross with a green background, which you can see in down below –
Why is First Aid so Important?
We might not realise the importance of first aid treatment. But it can promote faster recovery and save someone’s life. You maybe hear in the news that many people have died in the ambulance just because the hospital is far away from the incident.
However, giving you some examples may help you understand the necessity of First Aid even better. If someone burns their hand, the severity of the irritation and injury can be instantly reduced by pouring running water, providing CPR can regain the heartbeat, and bandaging the injurious place can prevent infections. So, first aid can protect and save lives from danger.
3 Key Principles of First Aid You Must Know
You can better understand first aid when you get acquainted with the term 3 Ps, which stands for Preservation, Prevent deterioration and Promote recovery. These three phrases define the entire concept of the principles of first aid perfectly. So let’s broadly discuss the 3 Ps of the principles of first aid:
1. Preservation
The first principle of first aid is to preserve life from danger and call the emergency medical service for further treatment. However, when you are providing first aid, you need to calm down the patient and take care of the victim while ensuring your safety. If you can manage to follow this principle of first aid, you will be able to complete your task efficiently.
2. Prevent Deterioration
The aim of first aid is to prevent life from danger until the emergency medical service can arrive. Therefore, preventing deterioration is one of the major principles of first aid. But, before providing first aid care, you need to make sure further injuries don’t happen to the patients, and you can effectively reduce the severity of the injury or illness.
3. Promote Recovery
The final principle of first aid is promoting recovery, which includes calling and arranging medical help. First aid can surely reduce the risk of injuries, but the injured person still needs to go through some tests and special treatments. This will help the patients to recover very soon. So, besides providing first aid, you need to call the medical services as well.
First Aid Practices You Must Know
As first aid can stabilise severe situations and preserve life – we should not hesitate to help others when someone needs it. Therefore, we need to learn about the principles of first aid and practise the methods to take an instant action in emergencies.
Let’s discuss some of the first-aid practices below:
1. Providing Instant Care
The aim of providing first aid is to reduce pain or discomfort and save lives. So, it is always wise to do that as soon as possible. This will preserve life and decrease the risk.
2. Handling the Situation
This is the second major principle and practice of first aid – calming down and handling the situation. A first aider must be able to take immediate action and help the injured person simultaneously. The victim will need to be calmed down, so the first aider can help them.
3. Providing Right Treatment
Till now, we may realise the importance of first aid. But do you know how much a wrong treatment can affect the patient? Recognising the importance of first aid is not the end of it. Knowing which treatment is needed and how to apply relevant treatment is another vital matter.
4. Calling for Emergency Medical Help
First aid can only reduce the severity of the accident or sickness, but the risk can still be there. The injured person needs to go have medical treatment and be diagnosed properly. So, make sure you contact emergency service by calling 999.
What do You Need to be Aware of When Providing First Aid?
The first thing you need to do while providing first aid is to console the victims and calm them down. Also, you need to pay attention to the following things –
- Check for consciousness
- Check the heartbeat
- Provide CPR if needed
- Control bleeding before taking any action
- Look for fracture
- If there’s a burn, put the burning parts of the body under running water
Who is the First Aider?
If we don’t have the proper knowledge about a medical condition, then giving first aid could negatively affect the patient. However, a trained first aider with proper knowledge of the first aid tools can help the victim release their pain. Therefore, many organisations usually employ someone who can provide assistance in medical emergencies in time of need.
After knowing who is a first aider, a question may arise: ‘Does your workplace have a Dedicated First Aider?’
Does Your Workplace Have a Dedicated First Aider?
It’s a valid question. Since we all want to feel secure while working, employers must ensure the safety of their employees. That’s why they should train a first aider who can dedicatedly provide the service when any hazardous situation occurs or if anyone gets sick. The implication of this process will not only warrant the safety of the employees but also enhance their work productivity.
The Importance of First Aid Training
In this section, we will talk about the importance of first aid training.
If you are a parent, you may feel relief when you hear that there is medical help available in the school. Similarly, it will boost your confidence when you know your workplace has an effective first aider.
So, every institute and corporation should stock first aid supplies and employ a first aider. Also, they need to make sure that they have gone through thorough training.
If you want to learn more about the principles of first aid and why every organisation should provide first aid training, then you can join the Workplace First Aid Training course.
First Aid
First Aid course will teach you everything from how to act in potentially life-threatening situations, to conducting a head-to-toe check on someone who has sustained an injury.
First Aid
First Aid course will teach you everything from how to act in potentially life-threatening situations, to conducting a head-to-toe check on someone who has sustained an injury.
First Aid Kits
The first aid box full of equipment must be stored in every household, school, construction site, and office. Often in times of emergency, we struggle to find things, and our brains may not function correctly because of a mental breakdown. Thus, arranging all the equipment in the first aid box could be a better solution.
So, do you know what type of tools you need to put in your first aid box? Here are some of the things that need to be included in the first aid box.
- Bandage
- Hand sanitiser
- Ointment
- Cotton pad
- Thermometer
- Antiseptic solution
- Sterile gloves
- Sterile gauze dressings
- Emergency phone number
- Scissor
- Tweezers
- Over-the-counter medicines
Put all these tools in the box and keep them in a safe place. And, of course, keep it out of the reach of children.
Equipment Used for First Aid Training
Doing an online course and learning about the theoretical part might help you. Later on, when you witness the process and receive hands-on training, you’ll be familiarised with many equipments. So, here are a few pieces of equipment a first aider needs to know.1. Bandages, scissors, tape, and dressings
Whether you are getting training on bandaging a small cut or stopping heavy bleeding, you must need these things, which are always available in the market.2. CPR manikins
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a process used in an emergency when someone is suffering from a heart attack. However, this is the most crucial method. Thus, one should practice CPR with the CPR manikins before providing this technique.3. AED (automated external defibrillator):
AED is another piece of equipment used to help people who are having a sudden cardiac attack. Having expertise in this tool is also very helpful while serving first aid.First Aid Legislation in the UK
We have already talked about the importance of first aid, which is also necessary to provide to employees when any injuries or illnesses happen. According to the Health and Safety (First Aid), 1981 regulations, employers are required to provide sufficient and requisite equipment. Every employer needs to complete an assessment and consider the following things –- The nature of the hazard that could cause
- Working environment
- Size of the organisation
- Number of employees
- Other relevant factors
Conclusion
Accidents are unavoidable. But the cause of these circumstances can be prevented if we know how to manage and provide first aid care. It not only ensures the safety of the patients but also gives a sense of safety. So, we need to be prepared for any occurrences that can happen in our daily life at work. But before providing medical care, we must know the principles of first aid, which will enable us to provide first aid care in an efficient way. If you want to learn more about the principles of first aid and its methods, then you can join this First Aid Course. From this course, you will get to know the responsibilities of a first aider and the techniques of caring for the victims.
