What are the contents of basic first aid skills?

The basic first aid we can use every day is essentially a practical skill for professional medical staff to help the injured to hold the "window of survival" before they arrive at the scene. The core covers emergency identification, on-site treatment, and follow-up connection. It is far from as simple as tying a bandage and performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

I have been doing community first aid training for almost 4 years, and the most common misunderstanding I encountered is that everyone just wants to learn how to operate it, and completely ignores the most basic identification link. Last month, I met a young man who sprained his ankle while playing basketball in the community. People gathered around him and tried to rub and spray him with safflower oil. I quickly stopped him and first felt whether there was any deformity in his ankle and whether he could exert slight force to rule out the risk of fracture before letting him apply a cold compress. If there was a bone fracture and he rubbed it randomly, the follow-up recovery would be delayed for at least two months. At this point, I have to mention that there have always been two different opinions in the industry about whether to teach ordinary people to use tourniquets: one group believes that ordinary people without repeated training can easily tie the tourniquet in the wrong position and forget to remember the time, which will cause ischemia and necrosis of limbs. It is not recommended to promote it. ； The other group believes that in extreme cases of severe arterial bleeding such as car accidents and stab wounds, even if the operation is not so standard, it is better to stop the bleeding than to watch people go into hemorrhagic shock. When we go to the community for training, we usually explain the consequences of both theories thoroughly, so that everyone can judge whether to start based on the on-site situation.

When it comes to on-site treatment, many people’s first reaction is cardiopulmonary resuscitation and Heimlich maneuver. These two skills are indeed the most frequently life-saving skills. Last winter, an aunt in our community got her throat stuck after eating glutinous rice balls. Her husband happened to have participated in our training the week before. He hugged the waist from behind and rushed three times before coughing out the glutinous rice balls. He might have died two minutes later. But what many people don’t know is that on-site treatment also includes many inconspicuous little actions: when you encounter a person who has fainted, you first pat the shoulder and call someone to confirm consciousness. If the breathing is stable, put them in a side-lying position to prevent vomit from choking the trachea and suffocating them. ； If you have a burn or scald, shower with cold water for 15 to 20 minutes. Do not apply toothpaste, soy sauce, or bean paste randomly. A parent brought a child who had been scalded by boiling water to the community hospital we cooperate with. Grandma smeared a full layer of bean paste on the wound, and the wound became infected. During the debridement, the child cried and I felt heartbroken.

Many people learn first aid only by focusing on how to touch an injured person, completely ignoring the most error-prone link. What is connection? This is what you have to do after calling 120: You have to send someone to pick up the ambulance at the intersection. The old community has deep alleys and the new community is surrounded by buildings. Don’t let the driver wait for a long time and delay the golden treatment time. ； When the medical care arrives, you must explain clearly what operation you just performed, whether the injured person has any underlying diseases, and what kind of consciousness he had just now. This information can help the medical care avoid many detours. Oh, and there is another point that is easily overlooked. If you encounter an accident in a public place, don't let everyone surround the injured person. The injured person may be hypoxic, and a tight surrounding will worsen the symptoms. Maintaining ventilation and order at the scene is also part of basic first aid.

To be honest, I have to tell everyone at the end of every training that basic first aid is never about letting ordinary people become doctors. In those most critical minutes, just doing a few small things right and pulling people to a safe place is enough.