What everyone should know for first aid

The human body is susceptible to injury, illness and trauma. We do not know when our own or the people we love or the people around us may get hurt.

First aid is the first or immediate help given carefully to someone with a minor or serious illness or injury to save their life, to prevent or recover from the deterioration of the condition. This includes initial intervention in critical conditions before receiving professional medical assistance, such as: treating minor conditions, plastering or bandaging, saving the life of an injured patient by applying a way to stop bleeding, as well as performing cardiopulmonary rehabilitation (CPR) before receiving professional medical assistance. First aid is usually given by someone who is trained in these matters. So it is good for everyone to have some basic knowledge to take care of serious situations, to get worse or to stay healthy until medical help arrives.

World First Aid Day is celebrated on the second Saturday of September every year. Various organizations around the world, especially the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Society, organize various public awareness programs on this day. The day is celebrated to raise public awareness about how first aid can save lives every day and in crisis situations.

First aid should be affordable to all. One must know the basics of applying first aid and acquire this knowledge through training. As we know, uncontrolled bleeding trauma is the first cause of preventable death. I recommend that no one dies due to uncontrolled bleeding due to lack of first aid, so all citizens learn to stop bleeding.

Principles for determining first aid priorities
Based on the principle of determining protocols like ATLS and if the individual steps can be performed correctly, more lives can be saved in an emergency. The key to remembering the key points of this protocol is ABCDE.

ABCDE is,

A: Assure your safety

B: Breathing

C: Circulation and bleeding

D: Disability

E: Exposure and Environmental Control

A: Assure Your Safety:
Ensure your own protection. You can't get sick of helping someone.

Call an alert or ask someone to call 911 or try calling a nearby doctor.
Clean the trachea.

B: Breathing:

If breathing and heart failure (cardiac arrest) then do CPR. In other words, apply pressure slowly on the chest with your hands so that breathing can be normal.

C: Circulation and bleeding:

In case of blood circulation and bleeding, stop the bleeding by applying direct pressure. If there is bleeding from the hands or feet and a tourniquet is found, it should be tied over the bleeding site to stop the bleeding.

D: Disability:

One has to notice whether the person has become unconscious due to natural causes. If he loses knowledge, he has to make arrangements to regain his knowledge.

E: Exposure and Environmental Control:

The clothes worn by the injured or sick person should be loosened. If a blanket or thick cloth is found, the injured or sick person should be wrapped with it so that his body temperature does not drop.

First aid equipment

First aid bags or boxes are usually marked with a white cross on a green background. Image: Wikipedia

Different types of bags or boxes are available for first aid. These are usually transparent plastic boxes. The first aid bag or box is usually marked with a white cross on a green background.

Possible items of first aid kit are information leaflets, medium and large sterile dressings, bandages - gauge roller bandages / elastic bandages / adhesive bandages / triangular bandages, tourniquets, safety pins, sterile wet wipes, microflora, microflora, Burnt clothing, apparel scissors, confirming bandages, finger dressings, antiseptic creams, scissors, tweezers, alcohol pads for sanitizing equipment, some emergency medicines, etc.

The purpose of World First Aid Day
The first goal of World First Aid Day is to take the necessary steps to save the life of an injured person. General first aid skills and the confidence to use them can save lives. If everyone is trained properly, the chances of saving lives increase.

The purpose of World First Aid Day is to take the necessary steps to save the life of the injured person, to improve the condition of the injured person by first aid and to try to avoid infection and to take the patient to the hospital in case of any major accident or emergency.

The second goal is to improve the condition of the injured person with first aid and to try to avoid infection. First aid plays an important role in saving lives. However, proper training and knowledge is required to give first aid to the injured person.

The third goal is to get the patient to the hospital quickly in the event of a major accident or emergency. The ability to act quickly in an emergency can help save lives and reduce the impact of injury.

Why initial medical training is important

Increases protection:

Prevention is the basis of first aid training. It's always better to be safe than to be 'sorry'. Knowledge of first aid encourages people to feel safe and healthy, to be more aware and safe in the environment in which they live.

Helps relieve pain:

Some injuries require very simple solutions such as applying ice packs or rubbing quickly. Sometimes it is not necessary to go to the emergency department of the hospital. In this case, the assistance of one person trained in the first aid course is sufficient. Simple methods of initial treatment can be used to help reduce pain and at least temporarily relieve the pain.

The introduction of primary medical education in primary schools should be compulsory. In this way children will be able to learn the basic aspects of first aid at the beginning of life. Children should be encouraged to seek first aid and develop a tendency to help people through early medical education programs.

Helps save lives:

Immediate action can be taken in case of any accident in the vicinity of first aid and the life of the person involved in the accident can be saved. A trained person in the event of an accident can do more good in traumatic situations.

Prevents the situation from getting worse:

The trained person knows how to prevent the situation from getting worse. They will provide temporary medical care until professional assistance arrives, which will protect the affected people from deteriorating conditions.

Lack of first aid is the reason many people die in need of medical help in emergency situations. Knowledge of first aid is as valuable to you as it is to the people around you. Knowledge of first aid will enable you to help injured people in the event of an accident or emergency until help arrives.

Author: Pediatric Urologist and Health Economist, Professor, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Dhaka Medical College