WHAT IS FIRST AID?
What is emergency first response and why is it so crucial?
First aid encompasses all actions which have to be carried out to save the life of an injured person. If a life threatening situation occurs, the person administering first aid - a direct witness of the incident - has limited ability to act, often inadequate means and unfortunately, more often than not, insufficient knowledge. For a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), when the heart of an injured person stops or is not working properly, every passing minute counts. From the moment SCA occurs, which marks the start of the process of dying, time "runs out" quicker than for other health problems. After approximately 4 - 6 minutes, the victim's brain, our most important organ, begins to die as a result of oxygen starvation. Unless first aid is administered, the probability of saving such a person decreases by approx. 8-10% with every minute of SCA. Clearly, after 10 minutes the victim's chances of survival are negligible, not to mention their chances of a full recovery.
THE 4 GOLDEN MINUTES, TIME IS CRUCIAL!
We are weary of administering emergency first aid due to lack of confidence, ability or because we are afraid of doing more harm than good to the victim.
Have you ever witnessed a car accident and then stood within the crowd of onlookers, regretting that you are unable to help? You would have, but did not know how.
It is at moments like these that immediate action from someone witnessing an incident is required, someone whose path crossed that of a very ill, perhaps dying person. As there are no realistic chances of an ambulance arriving at the site of an accident within 4-6 minutes of SCA happening, first aid has to be administered by a witness in order to sustain biological processes until the arrival of emergency services. Everyone, even you can be a witness to an incident and a potential rescuer. There is no telling when a situation where someone will require first aid will occur. These are highly stressful situations, hard to prepare for, you will have to remain calm as the decisions and speed of action of a potential rescuer may be decisive when it comes to whether the victim survives or not.
It worth pointing out that first aid may be administered by anyone, even without a medical background. Become a RESCUER and rescue that which is most important - HUMAN LIFE.