Though it’s true you might never need to use first aid CPR in your life, it can’t hurt to learn this life saving skill. While the process of CPR has changed over the years, it is still considered the first line of defense for those victims of heart attacks or other heart stopping illnesses. Here are just some of the reasons why you might want to take a first aid CPR class.

You Can Help Others

When you’ve taken a first aid CPR certification course, you will be able to help others who might have troubles. Since you’re trained, you will be covered for any liability should the patient still die while under your care. You will be able to step in to help someone else who might be doing CPR on someone and offer them a chance to rest if the emergency crews are going to take a long time to arrive. If you are uncomfortable with doing CPR on someone else, you might be able to advise someone else as well.

You Can Protect the Victim’s Heart

In the case of a heart attack, the heart muscle can stop beating because it has become too damaged. When this happens, blood doesn’t flow to the body, increasing the chance that other parts of the body will begin to die too including the brain. When you use first aid CPR, you will help the body still pump blood, which can protect the brain and the body from further damage until the heart can start again on its own or with medical intervention. In fact, some studies are showing that just chest compressions are able to help preserve heart muscle and body function when done on a person whose heart has stopping beating.

You Can Assess the Situation

Some people who know a little about first aid CPR think that they should use it in all situations but this is far from the truth. When you have been trained in CPR, you will understand how to assess a situation for its usefulness. You will learn how to properly check for breathing or for an airway instead of simply starting with CPR and potentially doing more harm than good. You will also learn the proper alignment for the victim so that you are protecting them from further harm.

In learning first aid CPR, you will be able to help anyone whose heart has stopped, from infants to children, adults to the elderly. And because the techniques are different for everyone, you will want to make sure you are taking a class instead of simply learning from a book or online.

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While the human body is designed to eat, things don’t always go as smoothly as we would like, which is why first aid choking techniques are important to learn. Whether it’s a child who’s tried to eat something that’s too big to chew or an adult who accidentally inhaled when they should have swallowed, choking is a terrifying experience for everyone. In order to help the victim (or even yourself), here are some simple steps to first aid choking assistance.

Check the Airway

When we cough or have something stuck in our throats, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are choking or about to choke which is a matter of confusion to some people. The first step in any first aid choking scenario is to check to see if the person can not breathe. If they can not talk and they are holding their neck, it’s generally assumed that they are telling you that they can not breathe. To double check, ask them if they can talk. Children might not be able to show you that they are unable to talk, so look for head shaking and turning.

The Heimlich Maneuver

If you’ve determined that first aid choking assistance is necessary, you will want to get behind the person, taking your left hand and making a first, then covering it with your right hand, as though you were giving this person a hug. A few inches below their bellybutton, place this large fist and thrust upwards to dislodge the foreign object. It might take a few tries to do this and don’t be shy about pressure. The point is to make the air in the diaphragm push upwards on the lungs to expel the food or other item in the throat. This technique should be done only on larger children and adults, never babies or pregnant women. Special techniques are necessary in these cases.

On Your Own

Sometimes you might find that you are choking when no one else is around what do you do then? In these cases, first aid choking techniques still apply, but you will need to push your abdomen against something hard to simulate the effect of someone pushing on your diaphragm. Find a sturdy chair or a counter to help you expel the item.

While in most cases first aid choking skills may not be necessary because your body is good at taking care of itself and coughing up the item, it never hurts to know what to do should your spouse or partner have troubles with that piece of shrimp. The body can’t live without air, after all.

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Whether you have a trip planned or you simply want to be prepared at home, your choice in a first aid box will make a difference. Though most people don’t realize it, your first aid equipment doesn’t just need to be available, but it needs to stay safe as well. By finding a first aid box that will keep your bandages and other tools sterile and dry, you can increase the lifespan of your first aid supplies, while also keeping them on hand when you need them the most.

For Your Home Kit

If you’re looking for a first aid box for home, you can be a little more flexible in terms of the size and the shape so long as you have room. A larger, watertight box is best as it will allow for a number of things to be stored in it, while also giving the tools a safe and dry location. You can find these kinds of boxes at wilderness supply stores in the camping equipment sections or you might also be able to find them through medical supply stores and retailers. In a pinch, an airtight plastic bag or pouch can also work for your home needs.

For Travel

When you are looking for a first aid box for traveling, you need to consider the portability as well as the security of the box itself. If you can’t carry this box easily, chances are good that you won’t carry it at all and that’s not going to help in a medical emergency. Try to find a smaller box that you can cram only the essentials into; similar to the box you might keep in your home. This way, it can be placed into the top of a hiking pack for easy access without taking up too much room.

Many outdoorsy folks like a more flexible first aid box that’s more like a bag than a sturdy box. Drawstring bags and stuff sacks are a good choice, but if you will want to be certain that your bandages and other dry supplies are protected with a plastic baggie.

For Your Car

If you live in an area with varying weather conditions, your first aid box in your car might require a bit more gear blankets, extra water, etc. For this kind of kit, you might want to invest in a smaller plastic box that’s not necessarily watertight, but simply large enough to store everything that you need.

No matter what kind of first aid box you buy, make sure you fill it with the essentials bandages, antiseptic cleansers, signaling equipment and some food and water. When you need help, you should be ready for anything.

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As a parent, you can never be too prepared for the unexpected, which is why first aid and CPR skills are so important to learn. While you might never need them, it’s never a bad idea to learn the basics of caring for your child as well as the rest of your family in an emergency situation. By taking the time to learn first aid and CPR, you can be confident that you can handle any situation with your family.

Helping a Child

Children are simply prone to more accidents than their parents are. Bumps and scrapes are a part of growing up, it seems. But when the cuts happen, you need to learn how to properly care for them. Here are some basic steps to know:

Clean the wound
Apply pressure to stop the bleeding
Add an antiseptic cleanser or gel
Cover the wound

If the cut or scrape doesn’t stop bleeding in ten minutes, you will want to take your child to your local ER. But for most cuts and scrapes, this is all you need to do.

Helping your Spouse

While first aid and CPR skills are useful with children, your spouse might also have medical issues at some point. In the case of a heart attack, learning CPR can help them maintain heart function until paramedics arrive. It’s essential that you learn these first aid and CPR skills from a professional, however, as you need to make sure you are always doing good instead of doing harm.

Knowing When to Step In

But even first aid and CPR skills can’t help in some situations. When this is the case, teach your children to call 911 to alert professionals that you need help. Even if you think you can drive the injured person to the hospital, in severe injuries, it’s best to call paramedics. They have the right equipment on hand and can be to your house in minutes, while driving to the hospital can take longer.

Here are the situations when you need to call 911:

When the person is having troubles breathing
When the person is having severe pain
When the person is bleeding profusely
When there is an obvious open fracture bone sticking out of the skin
When the person is unconscious for no apparent reason
When you walk into a situation where the person is lying on the ground and you have no idea what happened
When the person is unable to speak or move

Sometimes you can’t help directly, but by staying calm and using the first aid and CPR skills you do know, you can help prevent the situation from becoming worse.

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Many people don’t realize just how powerful pictures can be, especially the first aid symbol. Though there are many variations of this design, the first aid moniker is easy to recognize no matter where you are. And this is a good thing. Here are the reasons why you need to learn the first aid symbol so that you can identify it easily.

What Does the Symbol Look Like?

If you’re unfamiliar with the first aid symbol, it looks a lot like a cross or a plus sign with equal length lines. This symbol can be found in a variety of colors, though it is seen most often in red and white (with the lines being red and the background white) or in blue and white (with the arms in white and the background in blue). If you go to the American Red Cross site, you will be able to see what the sign looks like and how it is used in various parts of the world.

Finding Help When You Need It

When you don’t have a map readily available, being able to recognize the first aid symbol is crucial to your safety especially when you are traveling. Since cities will post signs to their local first aid clinics and hospitals, you need to be able to discern these from other signs that might be posted. Look for these signs along main roads in the area or along highways and express routes.

Drawing for Help

If you can’t find the signs that include the first aid symbol, you might want to draw this symbol in order to get others to point you in the right direction. By saying ‘hospital’ and then showing locals the symbol, you should be able to get to a medical facility quite easily. You might want to draw out this symbol ahead of time to have it in your wallet or purse for easy access and for easy display to others you might call upon for help.

Other Versions of the First Aid Symbol

You might also recognize the symbol for first aid with green and white colors green for the background and white for the cross itself. Or the blue and white colored symbol can have the snake symbol from medicine illustrations. Individual hospitals and medical professionals also have their own first aid insignia that can help you determine their ability to help you.

When it comes to helping you, the first aid symbol can alert you to medical facilities as well as to find medical personnel in a crowd no matter where you are.

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Everyone needs help at one point or another and that’s why you need to know to look for a first aid sign. Even if you’re not the one who is injured, being able to easily identify medical help will allow you to take control of a medical emergency and help the victim get the assistance they need. Here are some of the things that a first aid sign can tell you.

Where the Local Hospital Is

By looking along the roads, you might be able to find a first aid sign or symbol (the even armed cross or plus sign) along with directions. This will show you the way to a local medical facility, while also helping you find the best path and direction. When you’re in an unfamiliar area, this is a welcome sign as time is of the greatest importance during an emergency.

You might also be directed to a local health clinic or doctor’s office which may not be able to help in a bigger emergency, but they can certainly assist you until you find the appropriate emergency room. Local urgent care centers tend to have better medical equipment, so if you’re not sure if you need an ER and you find one of these facilities first, try going in there before a clinic or a regular doctor’s office.

Where the First Aid Tent Is

If you’re running a race or out at a public event, finding the first aid sign will be useful if you become injured or you feel ill. These tents often have registered nurses and other medical volunteers that will help in minor injuries and allow you to rest for a while if you are overheated. While these tents arent usually staffed by doctors, the professionals who are on hand can help in many situations and can call for an ambulance if your injuries or concerns are beyond their scope of skills.

Where the First Aid Kit Is

In your workplace or office space, you can look for the first aid sign when you need to get a bandage or another piece of first aid equipment. These signs are generally posted on the outside of the first aid kit or at other first aid facilities in your company eye wash stations, for example. These signs should be easy to see and identify so that no time is wasted during an emergency.

When you find a first aid sign, you can feel better knowing that help is close at hand. In today’s world of uncertainty, knowing where to turn is the best first step to take.

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While you can’t necessarily predict the unexpected, you can learn about basic first aid scenarios so that you know what to do. Though you might see televisions shows and read books about medical dramas that include complicated injuries and diseases, chances are slim that you will ever need this level of expertise. Here are some common first aid scenarios and how to deal with them as you’ll probably encounter at least one in your lifetime.

Cuts and Scrapes

No matter how they happen, cuts and scrapes are still the most common first aid scenarios in any situation. Because life comes with sharp edges, your skin is simply going to get torn from time to time. The main thing to be concerned about when this happens is infection. You need to make sure you are cleaning out the wound as much as you can with warm and soapy water. If you don’t have any water on hand, try to use an antibacterial gel or wipe to help remove dirt and germs. Once you have done this, cover the wound up to prevent further infection and monitor for redness, swelling, and warmth.

In the case of a large gash, you will want to apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding first before cleaning the area. The body should be able to clot the blood and stop the bleeding within 10 minutes or so, but if this isn’t happening, you need to seek medical attention. These kinds of cuts will probably need stitches or medication.

Heatstroke/Frostbite

If you’re out in nature at any given point of the year, you need to realize that heatstroke and frostbite can happen. These first aid scenarios might not be as dramatic as a broken bone or a gash, but they can turn from problematic to life threatening in minutes. Here are the signs you need to watch out for:

Heatstroke

Mental confusion
Lack of sweating
High body temperature

In this case, you need to douse the person in water as well as try to have them take a sip or two of water each minute. This will help to cool the body and prevent damage to the cells. You don’t want to give the person a lot of water to drink as they are prone to vomiting at this point which will only dehydrate them further.

Frostbite

Loss of feeling in extremities
Fatigue
White or blackened fingertips, ears, nose, etc.

For frostbite, you need to cover the area as much as you can to keep it warm. If you can, run tepid water over the area to start warming it back up, but not hot water as this can cause more damage as the nerves are deadened and won’t be able to feel a burn.

Both of these first aid scenarios can only be managed by you until help arrives medical assistance will be necessary.

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While you know it’s important to learn first aid procedures, it’s often difficult to remember them when the time has come to use them. Thankfully, there are some simple things you can do to remember not only the steps to managing an injury, but also why you need to perform these steps. In learning to easily recall first aid procedures, you will be able to step in and help immediately.

Make up a Mnemonic

When medical students are in school, they need to learn a lot of information quickly in order to pass their classes. And while many of us believe they are simply smarter than the rest of us, much of the time, they use learning tricks to retain knowledge not their IQ. These tricks are called mnemonics. For example, when you have a sprained ankle or other body part, you might remember ICE. This stands for ice, compression, elevation. By remembering the letters and the word, you can easily come up with the right steps to take.

In the case of a wound, you might remember PCC pressure, clean, cover. You can make up your own mnemonics for first aid procedures as well so long as they’re easy for you to remember.

Practice, Practice, Practice

It sounds dull, but the simplest way to remember first aid procedures is to practice them often. Perhaps you can review your first aid class notes or books once a week to keep the steps fresh in your mind, for example. Or you might want to meet up with a friend from time to time to go over the information you have learned. Make sure to keep your first aid certification up to date as well.

If you took a first aid class, it might not be a bad idea to go over your quizzes again and again until you have them memorized. You can also find free online quizzes as well to help you train the knowledge you have gained from a certification course.

Keep a Manual Around

When your mind goes blank on first aid procedures during an actual emergency, you might want to have a first aid book easily available. This book should be simple to flip through to find what you need tabbed books are best. Though it might still be a little nerve wracking, knowing that you have a book available can help you stay calm and focused. Make sure that your book is up to date on the latest advice and that its copyright date is no older than a few years back from the current year.

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When you finally buy or receive a first aid manual, you have in your hands a terrific tool. By compiling the information you need at your fingertips, you will be ready to handle most minor first aid situations as well as to help stabilize a patient in the case of something more severe. But just having the first aid manual is not enough.

Read It

Common sense will tell you that you need to read the first aid manual in order to fully understand what it can help you with. Take a few days to read the book from cover to cover; even if you don’t think you will need all of the information that is included. You will also want to read this manual one a week or a month to refresh your memory about what you need to do in certain situations. You might want to think back to previous times when you could have used this manual and go over what you should have done.

Take a Class

But reading a first aid manual can only give you part of the equation. Taking a class in basic first aid is a great way to ensure you are following the instructions correctly. And hands on training is often much more likely to stick in your mind than simply reading about the training. You can find these classes through your local Red Cross chapter or in your community class schedules. If you are unable to find a local first aid class, contact your local fire department or police departments to see if they can offer you training.

Label the Sections You Use

If your first aid manual doesn’t come with easy to flip tabs, you might want to create your own. Take tabs or sticky notes and labels sections you feel you will need to most. That way, you can quickly flip to those sections when the time comes. You might also want to photocopy certain pages and place them in random places in your home or in your car to make sure you have the information wherever it might come in handy.

Update It Regularly

Of course, your first aid manual is only as good as the information it contains. Since first aid procedures and techniques do change regularly, you will want to update your book every few years. This ensures you have the right instructions and that you are doing the best you can during an emergency.

With your first aid manual, you will be better prepared than most. And the more you make of this manual, the more valuable it becomes for everyone.

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If you’re looking for first aid information, you need to realize that not all information is good information. With the introduction of the Internet, websites have been popping up in record numbers, all promising you the best and more accurate first aid information but is this the truth? When it comes to your health, you can’t settle for inaccuracies or mistruths. Here’s how to sort out the fact from the fiction.

Books and Magazines

When you’re looking for first aid information you can store in your home or workplace, books and magazines are a great resource that’s portable. However, with the advent of self-publishing, you might be picking up a book that’s never been fact checked or was written from someone’s personal experience and not necessarily based on any medical training. That said, there are many books that are well written and useful. Look for books which were written by doctors or nurses or those who are acknowledged and recommended by the American Red Cross or similar organizations. You might also want to ask your family doctor about the books they recommend you have on hand.

Websites

Since anyone can put up a website with first aid information on it, you need to be even more discerning online. Sites that end in the suffix .edu, .org or .gov tend to be more reliable, but there are also good .com sites as well. What matters most is the author or authors on the site itself. If you can find their names and their credentials, you will be able to tell if this is a site that’s going to offer you useful information. You will also want to look to see when the site was last updated the more recently, the better. Websites which are affiliated with hospitals or universities are also quite reliable.

Classes

When you want to learn first aid information in a classroom, make sure that you know the qualifications of the teacher. They should be medical professionals and have current licensing or certification to teach. Find out if you will be able to receive a certificate for your participation and how this can be used in your daily life. Obviously, the best classes are those taught by the Red Cross or similar organizations, but your community center might also offer first aid classes.

First aid information is something that needs to be accurate in order for you to use it properly. While everyone may have a different way of teaching the same techniques, in the end, the health of the patient is what matters when you use these techniques.

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