First aid

Treat minor wounds

Minor wounds include scrapes, scratches and grazes. Even though they are harmless, these kinds of wounds need to be treated as quickly as possible to avoid infection.

First aid

• Wash your hands with soap or wear gloves.
• Allow the wound to bleed for a little while.
• Remove any superficial foreign bodies (soil, grit, twigs, splinters, etc.) using tweezers. Do not try to remove a foreign body that is deeply embedded in the wound.
• Use an antiseptic to clean minor wounds that do not require medical treatment. Clean from the centre of the wound outwards and also include any skin around the wound that is still dirty.
• Leave small grazes uncovered if there is no risk of dirt getting into them. Otherwise cover them with a sterile dressing.

Simple actions taught during first aid courses can save lives if they are taken quickly and correctly.

A person who is unconscious

A person faints. They are not responding and do not react when shaken. They are unconscious, but still breathing, and lying on their back. Although the general rule is not to move a victim, a person who is unconscious and breathing should never be left on their back.

In this position their tongue or any vomit could obstruct their airways, with a risk of suffocation. If a person is unconscious and breathing, it is important to put them in the recovery position.

The recovery position is a position in which the victim is placed on their side, with their head tilted back and their mouth open and angled downwards. This stops them swallowing their tongue and allows any vomit to flow freely onto the ground. Putting a victim who is unconscious and breathing into the recovery position is therefore essential to keep their airways open.

First aid

• Make sure the victim's legs are straight and side by side. If they are not, gently move them together so they are in line with the victim's body.
• Make sure the injured person is breathing normally. Remove anything that could prevent them from breathing through their mouth (dentures, food, blood clots, chewing gum, etc.). Loosen their belt, bra, tie or shirt collar.
• Place the victim's arm that is closest to you at a right angle to their body. Then bend their elbow, keeping the palm of the hand facing upwards.
• Kneel down next to the victim.
• With one hand, take the victim's other arm and place the back of their hand against the ear nearest to you.
• Keep the victim's hand pressed against their ear, holding your palm against theirs.
• With your other hand, grab the leg furthest away from you, just behind the knee, and lift it, keeping the foot on the ground.
• Position yourself far enough away from the victim, level with their chest, so that you can turn them without having to move backwards.
• Pull the bent leg and roll the victim towards you until their knee is touching the ground. You should turn them gently and in a single movement. Holding the victim's hand against their cheek keeps their cervical spine in alignment.
• If the victim's shoulders do not turn completely, hold the victim's knee in place with your own knee to stop their body falling backwards onto the ground, then grab the victim's shoulder with the hand that was holding the knee to complete the rotation.
• Remove your hand from under the victim's head, while holding their elbow with the hand that you used to hold the knee (so that the victim's hand stays in place and to avoid any movement of the head).
• Bend the top leg so that the hip and the knee are at right angles (to stabilise the victim's body).
• Open the victim's mouth using the thumb and index finger of one hand, without moving the head, to allow any liquids to flow out.

Resuscitation of an adult in cardiac arrest

If someone suffers a cardiac arrest, performing heart massage (or chest compressions) during the first few minutes can save the victim's life or avoid serious brain injuries. Heart massage is performed in combination with artificial respiration.

The technique used varies slightly depending on whether it is administered to:

• an adult or a child over the age of 8,
• a child under the age of 8,
• an infant.

The advice below does not replace first aid training. Only proper training will enable you to perform first aid as efficiently and safely as possible.

Heart massage for an adult or a child over the age of 8

• Ensure the victim is lying on their back on a firm, flat surface.
• Kneel down next to them and, if possible, expose their chest.
• Determine the compression zone as follows:
  • use the tip of your middle finger to find the hollow at the top of the breastbone, at the base of the neck,
  • use the middle finger of your other hand to find the hollow where the ribs meet (at the bottom of the breastbone),
  • work out where the centre of the breastbone is,
  • place the heel of one hand just below this centre point (i.e. at the top of the bottom half of the breastbone). Pressure must be applied on the central line, never on the ribs.
• Place your other hand on top of the first, interlocking the fingers of the two hands. You can also place the second hand flat on top of the first, making sure that you lift your fingers so that they do not stay in contact with the chest.
• Push your hands quickly downwards, with your arms straight and your elbows locked (your hands should go down by 4 to 5 centimetres), then raise them again.
• Throughout the manoeuvre make sure that you stay perpendicular to the ground and that your upper body does not rock back and forth.
• Keep your hands on their chest between compressions.
• You should maintain a rate of 100 compressions per minute.
• After every 30 chest compressions, give 2 rescue breaths.
• Switch between rescue breaths and compressions, and between compressions and rescue breaths, as quickly as possible to avoid reducing the effectiveness of the cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Treat minor wounds

Minor wounds are scrapes, scratches and grazes. Even though they are harmless, these kinds of wounds need to be treated as quickly as possible to avoid infection.

First aid

• Wash your hands with soap or wear gloves.
• Allow the wound to bleed for a little while.
• Remove any superficial foreign bodies (soil, grit, twigs, splinters, etc.) using tweezers. Do not try to remove a foreign body that is deeply embedded in the wound.
• Use an antiseptic to clean minor wounds that do not require medical treatment. Clean from the centre of the wound outwards and also include any skin around the wound that is still dirty.
• Leave small grazes uncovered if there is no risk of dirt getting into them. Otherwise cover them with a sterile dressing.

Treat serious wounds

These kinds of wounds require urgent medical treatment from a doctor. However, there are certain things that you can do while waiting for the emergency services to arrive.

First aid

• Stem any bleeding through sustained local compression, indirect compression upstream of the wound (between the heart and the wound) and, if necessary, by using a tourniquet. A tourniquet should only be used in a real emergency. It should only be applied to a thigh or arm. The time of application should be noted. Although it is dangerous to keep a tourniquet tightened for too long, you should never loosen it, even for a few seconds.
• Do not attempt to disinfect the wound. In particular, do not remove any foreign bodies.
• Lay the patient down systematically, with their head lower than their body, unless they have a chest injury and are having difficulty breathing. In such a case, they should be put in a semi-seated position.

Clearing a person's airways

If you laugh when you have food in your mouth, it can go down the wrong way and block the glottis. A few coughs are often enough to clear the blockage, but in some cases the victim chokes and is no longer able to speak. In such a case, it is essential to provide very quick assistance to prevent them from suffocating. This involves urgently performing a simple manoeuvre to expel the foreign body trapped in the larynx or bronchial tubes; this is the only way to save the victim, as the emergency services will not be able to arrive in time.

If their airways are only partially blocked, i.e. if the victim is having difficulty breathing, is trying to cough and, in some cases, is making a whistling sound while breathing, they will often be able to expel the foreign body themselves by coughing. In such a case, under no circumstances should the person who has come to the victim's aid administer the techniques described below, as there is a risk that this could move the foreign body and completely block the victim's airways.

First aid

To unblock the airways of an adult or a child more than one year old, start by administering back blows:

• Position yourself to the side of and slightly behind the victim.
• Support their chest with one hand and bend them forwards enough to allow the dislodged object to come out of their mouth, rather than going back into the airways.
• Give them 5 vigorous blows on the back between the two shoulder blades, using the open palm of your other hand.
• Stop as soon as the airways are unblocked.

The aim of the back blows is to trigger a cough reflex, unblock the airways and expel the foreign body obstructing them.

If the foreign body has not been expelled, the 5 back blows have not been effective. You therefore need to administer 5 abdominal compressions using the Heimlich manoeuvre. The Heimlich manoeuvre can be used on children more than one year old in the same way as on adults, but taking extra precautions into account (the force of the compression should be adapted to the weight and age of the child).

It involves forcefully compressing the upper part of the abdomen (above the navel) to increase the pressure inside the chest and expel the foreign body out of the airways.

• Position yourself behind and in contact with the victim.
• Place your arms under the victim's arms and around their waist.
• Lean the victim forwards.
• Clench one fist and place it (palm facing downwards) in the pit of their stomach (above the navel and below the triangle formed by the ribs).
• Hold your fist with your other hand.
• Keep your elbows as far away as possible to avoid pressing on the victim's ribs.
• If the victim is standing, put one of your legs between theirs to help you support yourself.
• Forcefully move your fist upwards and towards you.

After 5 attempts, if this manoeuvre has been unsuccessful, perform 5 more vigorous back blows, then 5 more Heimlich manoeuvres, and so on.

The Heimlich manoeuvre cannot be used on infants and children under the age of one.

• Lay the child face down on your forearm.
• Hold their head with your fingers on either side of their mouth, while avoiding pressing on their throat.
• Give the child 5 blows between the shoulder blades using the palm of your other hand.

If these 5 back blows are not successful, you need to administer 5 chest compressions:

• put the child onto their back, then lay them on your forearm and thigh, with their head lower than their feet,
• administer 5 compressions to the front of the chest using 2 fingers in the centre of the chest, on the lower part of the breastbone, without pressing on its bottom end.