What Did We Learn With Lia about First Aid

“Stop moving Isabella, you wriggle too much. I can't put a sling on you unless you stand still and pretend that you have broken your arm.” This happened about halfway through our first aid course, but I'll start at the start so that it is not confusing. It was the 29th of February( a date that you don't get that often) and Lia, a worker from Red Cross, was teaching us the six letters to success. DRSABC. It is easy to remember because just remember DRS which stands for doctors and remember ABC because it is the start of the alphabet. The D stands for danger. Every time you go to somewhere where someone is hurt always be careful of dangers like live wires, unstable roofs/walls and anything else that could be hurtful to you or anyone else. This is because if you are in a problem where someone else is hurt then if you get hurt again there is no one else to help that person. The R stands for response. Try talking loud to the person, if they reply that is a good sign and it means that they are not badly hurt. If they do not reply it means that they are too weak to reply or they are unconscious. If they do not reply then squeeze their shoulder just enough so that it hurts. If the are still conscious they will flinch. And if they don’t do anything they are unconscious. The S stands for send for help. Call an adult or if it is a real emergency call the ambulance. Whenever you have to send for help make sure you them all the details, where, what, when, and how it also always helps to tell them how many people are hurt. The A stands for airway. When someone is lying down on their back, when they are unconscious their tongue relaxes and drops down, blocking the airway. This makes them unable to breath. So lift their chin up with two fingers so that their head is tilted back. B stands for breathing. Once you have tilted their head back their tongue will move so that they can breath again. If you do not tilt their head back then if they need to vomit the vomit will go up the food way, hit the tongue and go down the airway causing you to choke. And C stands for circulation. If someone is bleeding then wrap a bandage tightly around that spot, this is so that it cuts off circulation which means that all the blood travels to a different place, so that you do not lose as much. After that we learnt how to wrap up a bleeding spot and then how to put your bleeding arm in a sling. We also learnt how to tie a sling when you have a broken bone. They are both tied very differently. The way if your bleeding is to wrap the sling so that your arm is halfway between vertical and horizontal. Then with a broken arm you have to tie it so that your arm is horizontal. By Lauren