Learn first aid @_@

• Yoorah wrote on 2012-07-14 22:02
  I just had a pretty interesting situation to deal with. @_@
  
  I had finished my shift at work, and I thought I'd hang around the cool hallways of the building while waiting for the bus. So I was just walking around to kill time, when I saw a woman lying on the floor. I walked up to her to see what's up, to find her head covered in blood due to what looked like a pretty bad fall. Just as I realized that, she extended her arm and whispered "help me"...
  
  I've never been so shocked in my entire life. D: I called 911 and rushed to find someone with first aid experience because I had no idea what else to do. Managed to find a guy who worked part time as a lifeguard and a man whose wife was a nurse and just so happened to be around, thank god. @_@
  
  Luckily, her blood loss wasn't critical and she was able to hang on until the paramedics arrived.
  
  It was such a huge relief when they came. D: I have a lot of respect for these people.. too bad their pay sucks. >_>
  
  But seriously, the next time I have the opportunity to take first aid courses, I'm doing it. Knowing what to do in these sort of situations can be a matter of life or death. I mean, everyone knows that, but I think a lot of people underestimate the importance because they've never witnessed it first hand.
  
  Anyone here first aid certified?
• Episkey wrote on 2012-07-14 22:10
  I am.~
  
  Gosh, that must have been scary. It's important to not only know proper First Aid techniques but also CPR.
  
  Thankfully, both are normally taught in conjunction in Red Cross classes.
• Meikeru wrote on 2012-07-14 22:13
  I've signed up to take classes in school that will set me up for an EMT-B certification. Other than that, not at all.
• Yoorah wrote on 2012-07-14 23:25

  Quote from Episkey;909502:

  I am.~
  
  Gosh, that must have been scary. It's important to not only know proper First Aid techniques but also CPR.
  
  Thankfully, both are normally taught in conjunction in Red Cross classes.

  
  
  I always thought CPR was basic stuff and was part of first aid. :< Don't you just push on the person's chest repeatedly? And I remember studies showing that the mouth to mouth breathing thing is actually useless; people need to concentrate on the compressions. Do they teach it like that now?
• Episkey wrote on 2012-07-14 23:43

  Quote from Yoorah;909545:

  I always thought CPR was basic stuff and was part of first aid. :<

  
  
  Nope. CPR techniques and First Aid are two separate things.
  
  First Aid involves treating for something ... sudden. Like a diabetic emergency, someone falling, cuts, bruises, heat-related illness, cold-related illness, treating shock, etc.
  
  There are a myriad of things you learn in First Aid.
  
  In CPR - you learn how to help someone whose gone under cardiac arrest. You also learn how to use an AED (Automated External Defibrillator). There's differences in CPR between Adults, children, and infants as well. It's an entire separate realm.
  
  But most of the time, First Aid and CPR are taught in one class. That class might span over 2 to 3 days.
  
  
  

  Quote from Yoorah;909545:

  Don't you just push on the person's chest repeatedly?

  
  
  LOL.
  
  No, it's more exact than that. You need to have proper hand placement and push down with enough force in order to compress the heart.
  
  IF YOU DO IT WRONG - you can easily kill a person. At the tip of the human sternum there is a piece of cartilage called the xiphoid process, it's very sharp - like a knife. If while doing CPR, you were to compress on the xiphoid process ... you could very easily puncture the person's heart or lung.
  
  That's why you need to take a class on this stuff - you're dealing with human lives after all.
  
  
  

  Quote from Yoorah;909545:

  And I remember studies showing that the mouth to mouth breathing thing is actually useless; people need to concentrate on the compressions. Do they teach it like that now?

  
  
  Not entirely useless, but newer studies have found that you don't need to supply as much breath as before. Before it used to be that a person gave 2 breaths after 30 compressions ... but now they changed the ratio to give more compressions rather than breaths.
  
  Because they found out that people were wasting valuable seconds trying to give effective breaths.
  
  Although ... the whole view of breaths being "ineffective" is partially due to some people's aversion to giving mouth-to-mouth. That's what breathing barriers are for, it's not that big of a deal. I personally hold rescue breaths in high regard - but you can do CPR without them. But completely omitting rescue breathing will not give the most beneficial results. If all you are compressing is un-oxygenated blood ... then you aren't really doing anything productive.
• Sekwaf wrote on 2012-07-15 00:35
  Can't imagine myself being an Eagle Scout without being certified in them. Always a good thing to know how to fix a situation, especially when human lives are involved.
• Xemnas wrote on 2012-07-15 00:42
  Give me a staple gun, some glue, and duct tape.
  
  Instant certification.
• Yoorah wrote on 2012-07-15 01:08

  Quote from Episkey;909550:

  IF YOU DO IT WRONG - you can easily kill a person. At the tip of the human sternum there is a piece of cartilage called the xiphoid process, it's very sharp - like a knife. If while doing CPR, you were to compress on the xiphoid process ... you could very easily puncture the person's heart or lung.

  
  
  If I understand correctly, it's the lower part where the rib cage connects, right above one's stomach? I was actually taught that it's a great place to punch someone if you want to KO them quickly. (Kicking in the balls is low class, not very effective and doesn't work on women.. not that I would want to beat up women.. <_<)
  
  I got to put that theory to the test one time. You see, some asshole punched me for no reason when I saw him physically harassing some girl and told him to stop. The loser spent some time on the ground and I was actually starting to get worried if I caused some serious damage, but he eventually got up and left... He seemed shocked more than anything else. I hope he didn't end up dead later or something!
  
  As for the mouth to mouth debate... I guess you can decide how effective it is based on whether the person who needs saving is a cute girl or not. :P
• MikeHo wrote on 2012-07-15 01:21
  An easy way to remember where to place you hands is the last 2/3 of the sternum which is around the nipple line. The thing about puncturing the heart is possible. But more commonly people will break ribs (which should be expected)
  
  If the person had a fall that is a really terrifying situation. I mean best thing you could do for that person until the Paramedics arrive is to ask questions. (Ie what happen, why did it happen etc...) to get background. If it was a fall maybe holding C-spine to prevent anymore spinal injury. try to control the blood. Check for CSF which can cause haloing. Bleeding from the head is a pain because if there is a brain bleed we want to control but not block off the blood cause it might cause a build up of pressure in the head.
  
  
  Also CPR Ratio is the same 30:2 (Compression to Breaths) with like 15:2 for children of a specific age. They did put more importance on compressions though. So the ABC actually changed to CAB. A=Airway B=Breathing C= Compressions
• Episkey wrote on 2012-07-15 01:56

  Quote from Yoorah;909599:

  If I understand correctly, it's the lower part where the rib cage connects, right above one's stomach? I was actually taught that it's a great place to punch someone if you want to KO them quickly. (Kicking in the balls is low class, not very effective and doesn't work on women.. not that I would want to beat up women.. <_<)

  
  
  Yes. You would be correct - that general area.
  
  Considering the point of CPR is to save lives - I hope you don't transfer that same line of thought to a future patient.
  
  

  Quote from MikeHo;909604:

  An easy way to remember where to place you hands is the last 2/3 of the sternum which is around the nipple line. The thing about puncturing the heart is possible. But more commonly people will break ribs (which should be expected)

  
  
  Yeah it's a bit lower than the nipple line. But going too low would be the issue about the xiphoid process.
  
  
  

  Quote from MikeHo;909604:

  Also CPR Ratio is the same 30:2 (Compression to Breaths) with like 15:2 for children of a specific age. They did put more importance on compressions though. So the ABC actually changed to CAB. A=Airway B=Breathing C= Compressions

  
  
  Oh.~
  
  Thanks for the clarification. I should go and review my books.
• Cucurbita wrote on 2012-07-15 01:58
  Certified :D
  
  But I'm a hikkikomori so I wont ever see anyone I need to apply first aid to.
• Rin wrote on 2012-07-15 02:46
  I should be certified, but alas.
• Kaeporo wrote on 2012-07-15 03:12
  I attend CPR and First Aid courses every two years, though I initially learned those skills while in the Boy Scouts of America.
  
  People never prepare for the worst case scenario. They don't stop to question how they would act if someone was depending on them. Any sheep will risk itself in order to save a loved one. Only a sheepdog has enough love in its heart to care for a stranger.
• PorcelainVienna wrote on 2012-07-15 03:26
  First Aid and CPR classes don't take that long to finish so there's no harm in taking it :O It's nice knowing there's still people like you that help strangers though. Some people just pretend they never saw the person in need and carry on -__-
• Yoorah wrote on 2012-07-15 03:27
  Geez, so many people are certified! Now I feel lame. :P I had no idea those courses were so popular.
  Now that I think about it, we learned CPR in phys ed back in high school, but it was a pretty lacking lesson.