What is your first response when you see a victim lying on a road at an accident site? You call 911.
But in case paramedics aren’t able to reach the site in time, you should be prepared to offer first aid to the victim.
When an injured human is fighting for their life, time is of the essence. It’s important that you act swiftly and expertly without any delays.
But when a life is at stake you need to be extra careful with how you’re going to approach the problem. Don’t volunteer to assist the ailing if you’re not trained in offering first-aid.
There are many things that can go wrong if you try to offer CPR without any prior training.
Aspiration and vomiting
If you’re inexperienced, you might not realize that vomiting presents a risk if it happens during CPR. An unconscious victim might be unable to clear their throat and so it falls on you to assist this process.
If it’s not cleared from the mouth in time, the victim can inhale the the contents into their lungs and that can block their windpipe.
This is a frequent cause of infections and you don’t want a vulnerable patient to further suffer.
Fractured ribs
Most people think that watching CPR in movies is enough to take charge of an emergency situation. That’s sadly not enough because chest compressions, when administered wrongly can fracture the ribs.
While broken bones are a severe complication on their own, broken ribs put the sensitive organs at risk of being punctured. Â This includes the liver, the spleen or one of the lungs.
Lacerated organs hurt a lot and an already weak victim might not be able to survive the pain. Proceed with caution.
Internal brain wounds
The brain can sustain serious injuries during the process of CPR. This is because the brain receives 5% less oxygen than normal in between chest compressions and that can damage the brain.
As a first-aid provider, you need to know that you’re working within a window of less than 10 minutes. After the time has passed, the brain is surely going to revolt and that’ll result in long-term nervous complications.
Abdominal distension
While administering CPR, you need to be mindful of not bloating the abdomen excessively. This can cause abdominal distension and lead to compression of lungs.
With shrunken lungs, it becomes excessively difficult to ventilate and the victim might end up vomiting which can block the airway.
If you want to learn first-aid tactics properly, come to us. We offer first-aid training courses in Vancouver and can assist you in learning this life-saving skill!
