First Aid

1 Be prepared

Having the essential items to hand can make all the difference when it comes to performing first aid. This section looks at common accident situations and also details the items you should keep to hand both at home and while out and about. The most important of these is a properly stocked first aid kit, which, alongside your own ability to keep calm and assess the situation at hand, will stand you in good stead for any incident that may arise.

Emergency priorities

Accidents and medical emergencies happen every day, any time, anywhere. Even if you have no first aid training, your intervention could help to limit the damage – and maybe even save a life.

Priorities in an emergency

Anyone could come across the scene of an accident, or suddenly be faced with an emergency at home. The key is to call for help, keep calm, assess the situation and know what to do in those vital minutes while awaiting help.

1 Stop to assess the situation – watch out for danger.

Your first aim is to avoid anyone else being put at risk – for example, from oncoming traffic in a road accident.

2 Make sure it is safe to approach the scene

Never put yourself at risk – it is no help if you become a second casualty. If you cannot help without endangering yourself or others, call or send for help and keep others away.

3 Make the area safe

Do what you can to protect bystanders and others from danger and protect the casualty from further danger.

4 Assess the victim

Check the casualty’s response and condition (see pages 32-33).

5 Call for help

6 Resuscitate and treat injuries as necessary

Vital contact numbers

In an emergency there are several ways to summon help and assistance. In the majority of cases this will be by dialling 999 from any phone.

Emergency contact numbers:

Medical advice:

Local utilities:

First aid kits

must know

• Keep your first aid kit well stocked at all times as you never know when it might be useful.

• Make sure everyone in the household or workplace knows where the first aid kit is kept.

A well-stocked first aid kit can make dealing with minor accidents and injuries much easier.

Home first aid kit

As well as the full range of items that you will wish to keep in the house, it’s a good idea to keep a first aid kit and other useful items in the car, in case you encounter an emergency situation while out and about. You can buy ready-made kits from most pharmacies, or you can put together your own. Store items in a clean, waterproof container with a well-fitting lid, and clearly mark it ‘first aid’.

Car first aid kit

As well as the essential items for a standard first aid kit, you may also wish to carry:

• face shield or mask to protect you when performing resuscitation

• cardboard tie-on labels to identify casualties in major incidents

• notebook and pen for recording observations

• blanket

• cushions

• strong torch

• whistle

• survival bags – or rolls of kitchen foil – for keeping casualties warm and dry

Maintaining a first aid kit

other items to include

• bandage clips or safety pins

• disposable gloves

• tubular bandages for finger injuries

• large cotton-wool strips for padding

• eye pad

• thermometer

• wound-closure strips (‘steri-strips’)

1 If you use an item, be sure to replace it as soon as possible.

2 Check the contents regularly – at least once a year – and replace any out-of-date items.

3 Store in a high cupboard out of reach of small children.

4 Make sure the kit remains clean and dry: don’t store it anywhere that could get damp, such as in a cupboard above the kettle or next to a window that’s prone to condensation, or too hot, such as in a cupboard over the oven.

5 Make sure the kit is clearly labelled so anyone can locate it in an emergency.

Holiday first aid kit

must know

In addition to your travel first aid kit make sure that you have the correct immunisations for your destination(s). Check with your doctor about what you might need and leave plenty of time as immunisations must be administered over several weeks.

It is well worth taking a comprehensive first aid kit with you when travelling, especially if you are going to remote areas, taking small children along or planning to engage in outdoor or sporting activities.

Travel first aid kit

You can buy a first aid kit specially for travel, or you can make up your own. Remember to include sufficient items for the size of your group and length of your trip.

As well as the dressings and other basic items listed in the standard first aid kit (see page 11), it may be helpful to take:

• first aid book or leaflet

• thermometer

• wound-closure strips (‘steri-strips’) or plasters

• vinegar – for jellyfish stings (small plastic catering sachets are ideal)

• rehydrating solution – for food poisoning and traveller’s diarrhoea

• medicine spoon or medicine syringe (to measure fluids) – if travelling with babies or small children

• sunburn-relief spray or cream

• insect-bite/sting-relief ointment

• eye-flushing solution or sterile water

• chemical ice-pack

• chemical hot-pack

Additional items that may be useful:

watch out!

• Never give aspirin to a child under 16.

• Always label medicines and keep a copy of the prescription for any prescribed medications.

• Do not pack scissors, needles or sharp implements in hand luggage – but don’t send vital medicines through the hold.

• Remember that in some countries certain medicines may be illegal, for example codeine (present in some painkillers and anti-diarrhoea medicines).

• sunscreen

• insect repellent

• water-sterilising tablets

• torch

• string or dental floss (very strong – has multiple uses)

Medicines for minor ailments

As finding a doctor in a foreign country can be difficult – and may involve a language barrier – it is a good idea when travelling to take a few basic medicines to deal with minor conditions. These include:

• mild painkillers – paracetamol, aspirin, ibuprofen

• anti-inflammatory and anti-fever medicine – aspirin, ibuprofen

• antihistamine cream – for insect bites and minor allergies

• anti-diarrhoea medication

• decongestant spray

• cough and cold remedies

Sterile supplies

In some parts of the world it is advisable to take sterile supplies for use by local medical personnel in case you are in an accident. These include:

• syringes and needles

• drip needle

• sterile suture kit

Common situations: accidents

Accidental injuries can happen anywhere – you never know when your first aid skills may be called upon. It’s helpful to have read your first aid manual, so you know what to do if you are suddenly confronted by an unexpected event or incident and have to treat a casualty.

Where accidents happen

The vast majority of accidents happen at home, indoors. In the UK there are more than two million such incidents requiring medical attention each year. Roads and parking areas are the next most dangerous places, with more than 600,000 accidents per year. Next are accidents in the garden and other areas outdoors at home. So while you may feel safest at home, in fact this is the place you need to take most care.

must know

Who gets hurt?

Men outnumber women in the accident statistics – around six men are injured for every five women – and the male risk is even higher for fatal accidents. Men may engage in more risky activities – or they may take more risks in everyday life.

Both children (see pages 18-19) and elderly people are at higher risk of accidents than adults of working age. Children, especially young children, are still developing their ability to move and co-ordinate and so are more likely to have purely physical mishaps. They are also less aware of danger and less able to protect themselves against hazards.

Older people are more frail, so are more likely to sustain injury even in minor incidents. They are also much more likely to be injured in falls (see page 17) – a major cause of accidents and, sometimes, with long-term complications.

When are you most likely to get hurt?

must know

There is a great deal you can do to help to prevent accidents occurring in the first place (see pages 168-183). If an accident does occur, a little first aid knowledge may enable you to treat minor injuries safely, know when and how to call for help (see pages 30-31), and stabilise the situation until the emergency services arrive.

Sporting activities are spectacularly dangerous, heading the league table of home and leisure injuries each year, and way ahead of the next most dangerous pastime – travelling. However, transport accidents are most likely to kill you, especially if you are male. Every year, more than 2,000 men, but fewer than 1,000 women, are killed while travelling. Falls are the next most common cause of death, affecting men and women almost equally, followed by poisoning – which is nearly twice as common among men. Other causes of accidental death, such as drowning or fire deaths, are far less common.

Common situations: accidents in the home

Home is not necessarily the safest place to be – indeed, it’s where most accidents occur. More than 4,000 people die every year following household accidents. Most home accidents occur indoors – more than 2 million incidents per year, compared with more than half a million accidents in the garden and elsewhere outdoors around our homes.

Where danger lurks in the home

Surprisingly perhaps, the kitchen is only the second most dangerous area in our homes – although it’s responsible for over a quarter of a million accidents per year. More than 30,000 of these involve knives, far exceeding accidents due to cookers and hobs: food preparation is more dangerous than cooking.

did you know?

Every year, around 2.7 million of us are injured in accidents at home sufficiently seriously to seek medical treatment. This is on top of 1.6 million workplace injuries. Everyday life is hazardous.

At the top of the danger list is our living space – living rooms, dining rooms, playrooms and studies. These are the scene of more than 300,000 accidents a year, perhaps because that’s where we spend most of our waking time.

Also surprising is that the third most dangerous place to be is the bedroom, where more than 230,000 accidents occur annually. This makes it a slightly riskier place than the stairs, where more than 225,000 of us manage to hurt ourselves each year. However, as we spend relatively little time climbing or descending stairs, this is one of the most dangerous activities we undertake minute for minute.

Who gets hurt?

Children and elderly people are at the highest risk of domestic accidents. Almost everything in the home represents a potential hazard for a young child, from furniture and electric sockets to baths and household chemicals. Tripping and falling accidents are extremely common among young children, both because they are just learning to walk and haven’t yet developed a full sense of balance, and because they are excitable and likely to move rapidly and with less awareness of their surroundings than adults. Also, many objects designed for adults – like chairs or coffee tables – are at just the wrong height for an active toddler. It’s well worth spending