Conversation started Tuesday Agbo Arnold 3/11, 8:20am Agbo Arnold MIDTERM FIRST AID AND BASIC LIFE SUPPORT First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until medical help arrives. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care past the first aid intervention. It generally consists of a series of simple and in some cases, potentially life-saving techniques that an individual can be trained to perform with minimal equipment. An accident or mishap is an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance, often with lack of intention or necessity. It implies a generally negative outcome which may have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occurrence. AIMS The key points of first aid can be summarized in three key points: • Preserve life: the overriding aim of all medical care, including first aid, is to save lives • Prevent further harm : also sometimes called prevent the condition from worsening, or danger of further injury, this covers both external factors, such as moving a patient away from any cause of harm, and applying first aid techniques to prevent worsening of the condition, such as applying pressure to stop a bleed becoming dangerous. Promote recovery: first aid also involves trying to start the recovery process from the illness or injury, and in some cases might involve completing a treatment, such as in the case of applying a plaster to a small wound. • First aid training also involves the prevention of initial injury and responder safety, and the treatment phatmacology KEY SKILLS Certain skills are considered essential to the provision of first aid and are taught ubiquitously. Particularly the “ABC”s of first aid, which focus on critical life-saving intervention, must be rendered before treatment of less serious injuries.ABC stands for airway, breathing, and circulation. The same mnemonic is used by all emergency health professionals. Attention must first be brought to the airway to ensure it is clear.obstruction (choking ) is a life-threatening emergency. following evaluation of the airway, a first aid attendant would determine adequacy of breathing and provide rescue breathing if necessary. WOUNDS A wound is a type of injury in which skin is torn, cut or punctured (an open wound), or where blunt force trauma causes a constution (a closed wound ). In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin. A. OPEN B. Open wounds can be classified according to the object that caused the wound. The types of open wound are: • Incisions or incised wounds, caused by a clean, sharp-edged object such as a knife, a razor or aglass splinter. • Lacerations, irregular tear-like wounds caused by some blaunt trauma. Lacerations and incisions may appear linear (regular) or stellate (irregular). The term laceration is commonly misused in reference to incisions. • Abrasions (grazes ), superficial wounds in which the topmost layer of the skin (the epidermis) is scraped off. Abrasions are often caused by a sliding fall onto a rough surface. • Puncture wounds, caused by an object puncturing the skin, such as a nail or needle. • Penetration wounds,caused by an object such as a knife entering and coming out from the skin. • Gunshot wounds, caused by a bullet or similar projectile driving into or through the body. There may be two wounds, one at the side of entry one at the site of exit, generally referred to as a “throuh-and-through. C. Closed Closed wounds have fewer categories, but are just as dangerous as open wounds. The type of closed wounds are: • Contusions, more commonly known as bruises, caused by blunt force trauma that damages tissue under the skin. • Hematomas, also called a blood tumor, cause by damage to a blood vessel that in turn causes blood too collect under the skin. • Crush injury, caused by a great or extreme amount of force applied over a long period of time.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 02:25:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015