The ability to save life via the knowledge of first aid can make the difference between life and death. First aid provides quick medical attention to injured victims in an emergency. First aid skills can be helpful anywhere, from home to the workplace and communities. People with first aid skills are essential in the community as they make it a healthy place to live.
First aid skills don’t have to involve complicated techniques. They involve simple procedures you can perform without much reliance on medical equipment. As a result, someone who administers first aid needs to master various skills that can help them save a life.
Many people never wish or plan for accidents. However, accidents happen irrespective of various control measures implemented. First aid can be considered one of the last lines of defense to prevent death and severe casualties.
Injuries might escalate to death and other fatalities if not correctly handled. Proper knowledge of first aid, like CPR, can help prevent complications. As a result, adequate and robust first aid training is essential for people who want to acquire the skill.
While you can get first aid training almost anywhere, this article serves as a checklist to know a quality first aid training program:
- Practical Teaching Method
The idea of first aid is to save lives. Saving lives can happen in many ways, which involve demonstration. While some theories are applied to the first aid principle, the bulk of the training program should include demonstrations.
In other words, there should be an adequate supply of first aid material and mannequins to demonstrate various first aid techniques. This will help illustrate the hands-on skills involved in saving lives and providing first-aid assistance to victims.
The program should expose candidates to various types of acute illnesses and injuries. Not only that, but the proper response under different circumstances also using visual aid is a good idea. Also, the training should emphasize common injuries based on the field of the worker.
In addition, the program needs to build the confidence level of the trainees. This involves getting over the shock of witnessing severe injuries, large flow of blood, and being able to respond fast in emergencies.
When learning how to apply first aid at work training in Manchester or whatever location, the ability to practice and apply the various skills matters.
- Ability to Assess the Victim and the Scene
Emergency responders might not appear at an accident scene immediately. As a result, first aid providers need the ability to audit the accident scene, identify survivors, and understand their injuries and the type of aid required.
This involves understanding the nature of the accident and the scene and providing the necessary response. For instance, in the presence of multiple casualties, trainees need to know how to prioritize care provision so that severely injured or people with life-threatening situations get aid first.
As a result, they need skills like accessing the patient to determine pulse and circulation. They also need to know how to interpret medical alert tags if available. There might also be the need to access the victim’s history at the accident scene and understand the injury.
Continuous monitoring of critically injured victims is essential. If need be, the ability to safely reposition the victim to ease pain and prevent further injury is critical. Also, they need to know how to move and position the victim safely.
- Care for Wound
One of the basics of first aid is understanding the degree of burn injuries. This makes it essential to know how to treat burn injuries from fire or explosion. Burn injuries exist in various stages, and there are three types. As a result, your approach and response to each will differ, and a quality first aid training course will teach you the correct way of handling each burn type.
- First-degree burn requires loose gauze and topical remedies.
- A second-degree burn is a more severe burn that might be slightly swollen. It appears red with blisters and requires running through cool water and treating it like a first-degree burn.
- Third Degree Burn – destroys the first and second layer of skin and might also damage the bone. The nerve ends are destroyed so that the victim might feel nothing. This is best left to the doctor to address.
A reliable first aid course should explore how to address each burn type and wound, regardless of degree.
- AED and CPR Training
CPR, the short form for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is a vital first aid skill that can save life. It will come in handy when someone is having a heart attack or getting drowned. It is commonly seen in movies as a lifesaving technique. However, only a few people know the right approach to the process.
Proper CPR requires knowing the number of compressions to administer between breaths. Also, knowing the depth of such compression is vital and critical to saving lives.
Cardiac arrest has been a common occurrence which makes it essential to know how to use an (AED) automatic external defibrillator successfully. This lifesaving device is usually positioned strategically in various institutions and increases the chances of saving a a heart attack victim.
This and many more are essential elements of a reputable first-aid training program.
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/patient-on-a-stretcher-6754173/
Conclusion
Accidents and emergencies are not planned for. However, your first aid skills can be the key to the life of victims. Accidents happen anywhere from work to school to the street and the home. The skills learned will be handy should there be any such case.
Also, getting practical first-aid training is essential to your success as a first-aid provider. This, and many others, are crucial elements of a reputable first aid program.
