First Aid
First aid is immediate assistance given to people who have sustained injuries during an event. It is meant to help them until more comprehensive medical care is available. Having a system for emergency notification like RapidReach is extremely beneficial for situations involving medical care.
Detailed Explanation
First aid is an aspect of health emergency preparedness. It is usually done in response to a sudden injury sustained from an unexpected event. It is performed onsite and is administered immediately after the injury takes place. It often consists of small, short-term treatments that don’t require extensive, professional medical training to perform, such as dressing a small wound or using non-prescription medicine. It is an important part of emergency planning to have first aid protocols and equipment available in the event that they become necessary.
Types of First Aid
There are several types of first aid. They may or may not be applicable depending on the unique situation or environment you are in. Some of the most common ones are as follows:
- Emergency
This covers all the basics you will need to know in an emergency situation, including how to respond to emergencies. Emergency first aid may cover: how to help someone who is choking, circulation emergencies, breathing emergencies, how to care for wounds, and more.
- Regular
Regular first aid covers everything from the emergency section, plus injuries that may happen in non-emergency environments. These may include head, neck, and spine injuries; bone, muscle, and joint injuries; poisons, and environmental illnesses.
- Psychological First Aid
Psychological first aid is used to help people in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. It includes answering a victim’s questions, stabilising them, and connecting them to further resources. It is especially important in situations where someone is at risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Why Is This Important?
Having protocols to administer immediate medical care is absolutely necessary in the case of emergencies. It is important that people have access to rudimentary medical care if they sustain injuries from crises. This care can help prevent the injuries from getting worse. Having a paging app or wireless emergency alert system set up, like RapidReach, can help greatly in providing necessary medical care.
You should always give your staff members basic training no matter what. Depending on what dangers your organisation may be at risk for, you should also consider implementing training for more specific types of aid as well.