First aid and the first aid kit

25 min

The first five minutes

Mugisha is washing up after a practical when a beaker slips and breaks in the sink. He grabs the pieces and one cuts deep into his finger. Blood drips on to the bench, and his classmates freeze.

What the people around him do in the next five minutes matters more than anything that happens later. Nobody needs to be a doctor; they need to know a few steps and have the right equipment to hand. That is first aid.

Definition

First aid: the immediate help given to an injured or suddenly ill person before professional medical help arrives.

Casualty: the person who is injured or ill. First aider: the person giving first aid.

First aid kit: a box of equipment and materials for giving first aid, kept in a place everyone knows.

Important

The three aims of first aid (the three Ps)

Preserve life: keep the casualty alive.
Prevent the injury or illness from getting worse.
Promote recovery: help healing start, and reassure the casualty.

Inside the first aid kit

Ask your teacher to open the school first aid kit, and check it against Figure 1 and the table.

Figure 1: What a basic first aid kit contains. Check your school's kit each term and replace anything used or out of date.

Item	What it is used for
Disposable gloves	Protect the first aider and the casualty from infections carried in blood
Sterile gauze dressings	Cover a wound and press on it to stop bleeding
Roller bandage	Hold a dressing in place; support a sprained wrist or ankle
Adhesive plasters	Cover small cuts and grazes
Triangular bandage	Make a sling to support an injured arm
Scissors	Cut bandages, tape or clothing
Tweezers	Remove small splinters (never glass from a deep wound)
Safety pins	Fasten bandages and slings
Cling film or a clean plastic bag	Cover a burn after it has been cooled

What to do first: the primary survey

When someone is hurt or collapses, do not rush in. Work through six checks in order.

Figure 2: The primary survey, DRSABC. Work through it in order whenever someone is hurt or collapses.

Warning

Never put butter, oil, toothpaste or ice on a burn: they trap heat or damage the skin further. Never tilt the head back for a nosebleed: blood runs down the throat and can cause vomiting. Never give food or drink to someone who is drowsy or unconscious: it can block the airway.

Worked example 1: Mugisha's cut finger

Danger: move the broken glass out of the way; do not pick it up with bare hands.
Protect yourself: put on disposable gloves.
Check for glass first: look at the cut before pressing. If a piece is stuck in the wound, leave it in and press around it, not on it.
Stop the bleeding: press a sterile gauze dressing (or a clean cloth) firmly on the cut, and keep pressing.
Cover: when the bleeding stops, cover a small cut with a plaster; tell the teacher.
Get help: if bleeding does not stop after 10 minutes of pressure, or the cut is deep, the casualty must see a nurse or doctor.

Worked example 2: a burn from a hot tripod

Uwase touches a tripod that was heated five minutes earlier. The skin on two fingers is red and painful.

Cool the burn at once under cool running water for 20 minutes. This stops the heat damaging deeper layers of skin.
Remove rings or anything tight near the burn before it swells.
Cover the burn loosely with cling film or a clean plastic bag, which keeps it clean without sticking.
Do not burst blisters: the skin underneath is protected from infection while the blister is whole.
Get medical help if the burn is larger than the casualty's hand, is on the face, or looks white or charred.

First Aid: Helping someone who has a burn (British Red Cross). Watch how long the burn is cooled and what it is covered with.

First aid in Rwanda

The number to call for an ambulance in Rwanda is 912 (SAMU). When you call, say where you are, what happened, how many people are hurt, and whether they are awake and breathing. The Rwanda Red Cross trains volunteers in first aid in communities and schools, so there is often a trained first aider nearby at markets, sports events and umuganda. Every school laboratory should have a stocked first aid kit, a list of emergency numbers, and a teacher who knows how to use them.

Tip

Memory hook: for the primary survey, say "Doctors Rarely Say Anything But Care": Danger, Response, Send for help, Airway, Breathing, Circulation.

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Practice: first aid

Define first aid and state its three aims.
Name the first aid kit item you would use to (a) make a sling, (b) protect yourself from blood.
Why is "Danger" the first step of the primary survey?
A student has a nosebleed. Describe what to do.
Explain why a burn is cooled with running water for 20 minutes rather than one minute.
A classmate is lying still after falling from a desk. Put the actions in order: open the airway; check for danger; call for help; tap and speak to them; check breathing.
Your school's first aid kit contains only plasters and an empty bottle. Write two recommendations to the head teacher, with reasons.

Show answersHide answers

Immediate help given to an injured or ill person before medical help arrives. Aims: preserve life, prevent the condition getting worse, promote recovery.
(a) Triangular bandage (b) disposable gloves.
If the first aider is hurt too, there are two casualties and no one to help; the scene must be safe before anyone goes near.
Sit the student down, lean the head forward, pinch the soft part of the nose for about 10 minutes and breathe through the mouth. Get help if bleeding continues beyond 30 minutes or after a blow to the head.
Heat stays in the skin and keeps damaging deeper tissue after contact; long cooling removes that heat, reduces pain and limits the depth of the burn.
Check for danger → tap and speak to them (response) → call for help → open the airway → check breathing.
For example: add disposable gloves, so first aiders are protected from blood-borne infections; add sterile dressings and bandages, so heavier bleeding can be controlled; check and restock the kit every term; display the emergency number 912 beside it.

Key points

First aid preserves life, prevents the condition getting worse and promotes recovery.
Always start with the primary survey: Danger, Response, Send for help, Airway, Breathing, Circulation.
Press on bleeding; cool burns under running water for 20 minutes; call 912 for an ambulance.

1The first five minutes

2Inside the first aid kit

3What to do first: the primary survey

4First aid in Rwanda

The first five minutes

Inside the first aid kit

What to do first: the primary survey

First aid in Rwanda