What are the basic first aid skills?

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation for cardiac arrest, the Heimlich maneuver for foreign bodies stuck in the throat, hemostatic bandaging for trauma, emergency treatment for burns and scalds, temporary fixation of sprains and fractures, and preliminary treatment for accidental ingestion/contact with poisons. These cover more than 90% of first aid scenarios that ordinary people can encounter.

The highest priority here is definitely cardiopulmonary resuscitation. After all, the golden rescue time for cardiac arrest is only 4 minutes. Most people miss the best opportunity by waiting for the ambulance to arrive. A while ago, I encountered a case during a 120 call. A programmer in an office building suddenly fainted while working overtime. My colleague happened to have taken a first aid training class and performed chest compressions as soon as possible. When we arrived at the scene, the person's heartbeat had already returned to his own. If we had not started rescue until we arrived, there was a high probability that he would not be saved. There are a lot of discussions about cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the Internet. The main point of controversy is the compression force. Some people are afraid of breaking their ribs and dare not use force. There are also popular science bloggers who say that they would rather break their ribs but ensure the depth of compression. The consensus of our first-line first aid is that for adults, the depth of compression should be 5-6 cm. , the frequency is maintained at 100-120 times per minute. If you encounter an elderly person with brittle bones, it is indeed possible to break the ribs, but compared with saving a life, this price is completely worth it. During the operation, finding the midpoint of the connection between the two nipples can also minimize the probability of rib fractures.

What has a higher incidence rate than cardiac arrest is foreign objects stuck in the throat, which corresponds to the Heimlich maneuver. Last time at the community free clinic, I met a grandma who was playing with her grandson downstairs. The child swallowed a whole piece of jelly and his face turned purple. The grandma was so panicked that she could only slap her back hard. Fortunately, there was a mother next to her who had just completed a first aid class from the Red Cross Society. She hugged the child's upper abdomen from behind and pushed it up three times quickly, and the jelly spurted out. There are many videos online teaching Heimlich, and there are different opinions on the details of the operation. Some people say that no matter how big the crowd is, just press on the upper abdomen. Some professional first aiders have also mentioned that for babies under 1 year old, you cannot directly press on the upper abdomen. You must first lie on the adult's arm and pat the back, and then turn over and press the chest, otherwise the delicate internal organs will be easily injured.

After talking about things that can directly save lives, let’s talk about the treatment of minor injuries that we encounter every day. Many people get cuts on their hands when cutting vegetables or bruises after falling while riding a bike. Their first reaction is to sprinkle some medicinal powder on their hands, or just put a band-aid on them. Every week in our emergency department, we encounter patients whose wounds become infected and suppurate after such treatment. In fact, dealing with small wounds is like cleaning the house. You must first wash away the dirty things before closing the door. First, use running water or saline to wash away the sediment and residual foreign matter on the wound. After disinfecting with iodophor, it is no problem to leave the shallow wound to air. If it is deeper, wrap it with sterile gauze. If you are pricked by rusty iron or dirty wooden thorns, you must get a tetanus injection in time.

There are also burns and scalds that are common in summer. Many elders are accustomed to applying toothpaste and soy sauce, saying that they can relieve pain and reduce swelling. In fact, these things not only have no therapeutic effect, but also contaminate the wound, making it more difficult for doctors to clean the wound later. The correct approach is to flush the wound with running cold water for at least 15 minutes to cool it down, and then gently take off the clothes near the wound. If the cloth is stuck to the wound, cut it off with scissors. Don't pull it hard. Don't pop the blisters yourself. Small blisters can be absorbed by themselves. It is safer to go to the hospital for large blisters and let the doctor handle them with sterile tools.

In fact, these skills are not complicated at all, and you will only know how different they are when you actually get started. For example, most people lose the strength to perform chest compressions after half a minute. Heimlich's strength control is not good and can easily injure the ribs. If you have the conditions, you can go to the free public welfare class of the local Red Cross Society and touch the simulator. Practice for half an hour, which is more effective than watching ten short videos.