I will be a leader at a camp for teenage girls that my church runs in two weeks. The camp is only four days long and a good place for the girls to bond. Besides all the fun and games that happen at camp it is an opportunity for the girls to learn survival techniques that will be useful for them in the future.

I’ve been given the assignment to go over first aide requirements with the girls. I was reading through the camp manual the other day and I realized that much of the information in it is stuff that I don’t know as well as I should. Learning things like first aid, CPR, fire building, and how to generally survive in the wilderness may not seem that important or pressing in your current situation. It certainly hasn’t seemed that way in mine, but you never know where you might find yourself in the future and how those skills might come in handy.

I thought I’d cover some basic first aid skills in this post.

Basic First Aid for Accidents

If you are at the scene of an accident must remain calm. Your actions in these situations are quite important and your ability to keep your wits about you could determine how bad the situation becomes.

When giving first aid to an accident victim there are a few things you should do first.

• stop life-threatening dangers
• keep the victim safe from further harm
• get medical help

Avoid moving an accident victim. If they are in harm’s way you’ll have to move them, but if they are in no immediate danger and unable to move on their own leave them where they are. You don’t know if the person has suffered a spinal injury. Moving them could make the situation worse. Tell someone on the scene to call an ambulance. If you are alone use your cellphone to call the emergency services.

If the person is unconscious spend 5 to 10 seconds checking for breathing and a pulse. If the person is not breathing start rescue breathing. You should have a mask in your car at all times that you can use to do rescue breathing safely. If the person’s heart isn’t beating you need to perform CPR.  You can learn the basics of CPR and rescue breathing here.

If the person is bleeding you must try to stop the bleeding. You can control bleeding by putting pressure on the wounded area. You should have latex gloves in your first aid kit in your car to protect yourself in these situations. If you have a latex allergy they sell non latex gloves. Try to raise the wound above the heart to slow down bleeding even further.

All accident victims should be treated for shock. You should have the person lay down comfortably. If the person is vomiting have them lie on their side. Keep their body temperature normal. If it’s hot have them lie in shade if it is cold cover them with blankets. If the person is concsious give them some water to sip. Always talk in a calm, reassuring voice. 

You should always carry a first aid kit in your car.    You can learn more about first aid and what your first aid kit should include here.

---

---

Conclusion

It may seem easy to put learning these things off, but we never know when we might need them. It’s best to be prepared for an emergency situation. Read more this post to find out more about emergency preparedness.

Photo by Gene Zhang

Tweet This   Stumble This  

Related Posts

• Simple Ways to Plan for an Emergency