The term ‘basic first aid’ refers to the initial process of both assessing and addressing the immediate needs of a person who has been injured or is in severe physiological distress. This may be due to any medical emergency such as a heart attack, choking, allergic reaction, etc.

Learning elementary first aid will not only allow you to quickly determine a person’s exact physical condition but also come up with the right course of treatment on the spot. Seeking qualified medical help ASAP is extremely important here. But following the best first aid techniques and procedures might be the crucial difference between life and death.

o   The Three Cs Of Emergency Aid

The three Cs of emergency aid are very important, and they should be followed to ensure that valuable lives are not at any unnecessary risk.

o   Check Your Surroundings

Before rushing headlong into a potentially volatile situation, you should always check your surroundings. You should confirm whether you or the patient are threatened by toxic smoke, live electrical wires, fire, or gasses, or any other dangerous scenarios. It is not wise to charge straight into a burning building (for instance) when you might end up becoming a victim yourself. If you are in a situation where trying to help anyone will place your life in critical danger, it is better to call for help and wait for the professionals to do their job.

o   Call for Help

The minute you see a medical emergency, you should immediately call for help or ask other people to do the same. 

o   Care For the Person

If a person is conscious but in pain and is on the verge of panic, you should try and be as calm and as reassuring as possible. You should inform the affected person that help is on its way. If you feel that the person has suffered a terrible injury and he is losing consciousness, you may ask him his name, his interests and try to keep him both awake as well as distracted from his pain.

Caring for Unconscious Individuals

If a person seems to be unconscious, you may try to rouse them by gently tapping their shoulder or talking to them. You have to be very careful not to move them in case they have suffered a neck or spinal column injury. If they do not respond to physical or verbal stimulation, you should check if they are breathing or not. If there is no telltale rise and fall of the check or you cannot feel any breath coming out of their nose, you should tilt their face. This has to be done to see if there is any vomit or another blockage of the airways. 

If the person remains unresponsive, he or she should be prepped for emergency CPR.

  • Always Keep the head and the neck aligned
  • Roll the person onto their back while you are holding their head (you have to be extremely careful in case there is a spinal injury)
  • Open the air passageway by lifting the patient’s chin

After this, you should perform CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation). Place two hands together and firmly compress the chest downwards. You should do 100 compressions every minute. After every 30 compressions, you should give two rescue breaths, by closing the nose and fully covering their mouth with yours.

o   Conclusion

You should continue performing CPR till vital signs return and the patient revives or until help comes.