First Aid, CPR and AED

First Aid, CPR and AED Training saves lives! If you observe someone who requires medical attention as a result of an accident, injury or illness, it is very important for you to understand your options. For example, if you have received certification training from an organization like the American Red Cross and the certification is up to date, then your options are different than if you have had no training. For example, if you have not been trained to help someone who is choking on a piece of candy, without previous training your only response may be to call 9-1-1. If you had specific training, you would still call 9-1-1, because this situation is life threatening, but you would also have the ability to provide abdominal thrusts and back blows as defined by American Red Cross training (or similar organization), if the person who is choking gave you permission to assist. If the person does not give you permission to provide care, call 9-1-1. The Good Samaritan Laws According to the American Red Cross: The vast majority of states have good Samaritan laws that protect people against claims of negligence when they give emergency care in good faith without accepting anything in return. Good Samaritan laws usually protect citizens who act the same way that a reasonable and prudent person would if that person were in the same situation. For example, a reasonable and prudent person would: Move a person only if the person s life were in danger. Ask a conscious person for permission, also called consent, before giving care. Check the person for life-threatening conditions before giving further care. Call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number. Continue to provide care until more highly trained personnel take over. 2012 Universal Protection Service. All rights reserved. 79

Good Samaritan laws were developed to encourage people to help others in emergency situations. They require the Good Samaritan to use common sense and a reasonable level of skill and to give only the type of emergency care for which he or she is trained. They assume each person would do his or her best to save a life or prevent further injury. Non-paramedics who respond to emergencies, also called lay responders, rarely are sued for helping in an emergency. Good Samaritan laws protect the responder from financial responsibility. [However,] in cases in which a lay responder s actions were deliberately negligent or reckless or when the responder abandoned the person after starting care, the courts have ruled Good Samaritan laws do not protect the responder. 32 Overview of First Aid First Aid is defined as emergency treatment administered to an injured or sick person before professional medical care is available. 33 The following information does not qualify you to administer first aid, but provides you with some basic response procedures. Basic First Aid Do s and Don ts When responding to an incident that requires first aid of any kind, it is important to know what to do, when to do it, how to do it and when to do nothing at all. Remember you are not a medical professional, such as a doctor, and cannot give actual medical treatment. As a Security Professional your responsibilities can be broken down into nine basic categories. 1. Do access the victim s illness or injuries. Determine the problem(s) and immediately attend to life threatening injuries such as suffocation, heavy bleeding, major burns, poisoning or shock. If the injuries are minor, reassure the victim. 2. Do call for medical help. If there is a company doctor or nurse on site, contact them first. If no such person is on site, call 9-1-1 for emergency response. 3. Do calm and reassure the victim. Keep the person quiet and comfortable until help arrives. If the person is conscious, try to get his/her name and emergency contact information. Keep crowds away and protect the person from further injury. 4. Do provide facts to arriving medical personnel. When medical professionals arrive, inform them of any facts about the victim that might aid in their treatment. If there are personal belongings, turn them over to responding police or medical personnel and record the person s name and contact information in your Incident Report. 5. Do write a detailed Incident Report. Immediately after the victim is removed from the scene, write a detailed Incident Report describing all relevant facts and actions taken. 6. Do audit supplies. After the incident, determine what emergency supplies were used and need to be replaced. 7. Don t move the victim. Move the victim only if they are in danger of sustaining further injury in their current location. If there is no immediate danger, make the victim as comfortable as possible until professionals arrive. 8. Don t overreact to the victim s injuries. It is generally considered advisable not to let the victim view their injury. Calming and reassuring the victim rather than overreacting to their condition might help to save their life. 9. Don t feed or give liquids to semi-conscious or 32 Participants Workbook, First Aid/CPR/AED for the Workplace, American Red Cross, 2011. 33 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. 80 2012 Universal Protection Service. All rights reserved.

unconscious victims. Because you cannot accurately assess the victim s injuries, do not give them any foods or liquids. Doing so might aggravate or complicate their injuries. Call 9-1-1 if the ill or injured person 34 Is unconscious Is not breathing or having problem breathing Is choking Has persistent chest pain Shows no signs of life (movement or breathing) Has severe bleeding Is in shock Has seizures If you have any doubt about calling 9-1-1, then you should call 9-1-1. How to call 9-1-1 35 Stay calm and provide the following information: Your name The phone number from which you are calling What happened Your exact location (including intersections, landmarks, building name) The condition of the person(s) What help is being given Calling the 9-1-1 emergency number is the most important step you can take in an emergency. Remember, some facilities require you to dial 9 or another number to get an outside line before you dial 9-1-1. Obtaining Consent Before giving first aid to a conscious adult, you must obtain his or her permission to give care. This permission is referred to as consent. A conscious person has the right to either refuse or accept care. To obtain consent: State your name Tell the person you are trained in first aid (if this is true) Ask the person if you can help Explain what you think may be wrong Explain what you plan to do Note: Do not give care to a conscious person who refuses it. If a person does not give consent, you should still call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number. If the person is unconscious or unable to respond due to the illness or injury, consent is implied. Implied consent means you can assume that if the person could respond, he or she would agree to be cared for. Preventing Disease Transmission The risk of getting a disease while giving first aid is extremely low. When you follow standard precautions, you can reduce that risk even further. Always give care in ways that protect you and the person from disease transmission. Whenever possible, you should: Avoid contact with blood and other body fluids. Avoid touching objects that may be soiled with blood or other body fluids. Cover any cuts, scrapes or sores [to limit disease transmission] prior to putting on protective equipment, such as gloves. 36 Emergency Action Steps In any emergency, always follow three emergency action steps, Check, Call, Care. Following these steps can minimize the confusion at an emergency scene. Check the scene for safety; Check the ill or injured person Check the scene Is it safe? What happened? How many people are involved? Is anyone else available to help? Check for life-threatening conditions such as 34 Participants Workbook, First Aid/CPR/ AED for the Workplace, American Red Cross, 2006. 35 36 2012 Universal Protection Service. All rights reserved. 81

Unconsciousness No breathing or trouble breathing No signs of life (breathing or movement) Severe bleeding Call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number when appropriate. Calling for help is often the most important action you can take to help an ill or injured person who needs care. It will start emergency medical care as fast as possible. Care for the ill or injured person 37 Unsure What to Do? You may be faced with an emergency situation involving a stranger, and you might feel uneasy about helping someone whom you do not know. For example, the person may be much older or much younger than you, be of a different gender or race, have a disabling condition, be of a different status at work or be the victim of a crime. Sometimes, people who have been injured or become suddenly ill may act strangely or be uncooperative. The injury or illness; stress; or other factors, such as the effects of drugs, alcohol, or medications, may make people unpleasant or angry. Do not take this behavior personally. If you feel at all threatened by the person s behavior, leave the immediate area and call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number for help. 38 Obtaining Details If there are any life threatening conditions, call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number. If there are no life threatening conditions and the person is conscious, ask the person What is your name? What happened? Where do you feel any pain or discomfort? Do you feel numbness or loss of sensation? If so, where? Do you have any allergies? If so, what? Do you have any medications? If so, what medications are you taking? When did you last eat and drink anything? Give this information to emergency medical services (EMS) personnel when they arrive. 39 Overview of CPR The following information provides an overview, not to be considered actual training, on the principles and procedures of performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). CPR is an emergency procedure which is performed in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person in cardiac arrest. CPR involves chest compressions at least 5 cm deep [about 2 inches] and at a rate of at least 100 per minute in an effort to create artificial circulation by manually pumping blood through the heart. 40 For the untrained rescuer, the simplified CPR method of 100 compressions per minute is recommended. CPR alone is unlikely to restart the heart; its main purpose is to restore partial flow of oxygenated blood to the brain and heart. The objective is to delay tissue death and to extend the brief window of opportunity for a successful resuscitation without permanent brain damage. According to the American Red Cross, when breathing stops, the heart will soon stop beating. 37 38 39 40 82 2012 Universal Protection Service. All rights reserved.

Within 4-6 minutes, brain damage is possible. In 6-10 minutes, brain damage is likely. After 10 minutes, irreversible brain damage is certain. 41 By administering CPR, you are able to circulate blood through the body so that any brain damage is delayed. U.S. and it can strike at any moment. Disease or injuries can damage the heart muscle. This damage can cause the heart to go into an abnormal rhythm. Ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation are the most common rhythms a diseased or injured heart will go into. Ventricular fibrillation is when the heart s electrical activity is so unorganized and sporadic that the heart ends up quivering or fibrillating. options. Clearly, you have more options available to you to save a life if you have an up-to-date certification from an organization like the American Red Cross. However, if you do not have the certifications, as discussed in this module, there is still a lot you can do to care for the person(s) as you await for the arrival of the paramedics, resulting from your 9-1-1 call. Overview of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) The following information provides an overview, not to be considered actual training, on the principles and procedures of using an AED. An automated external defibrillator or AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electrical therapy which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm. 42 Sudden Cardiac Arrest is one of the leading causes of death in the Ventricular tachycardia occurs when the heart s electrical activity causes the heart to beat so fast that the heart is unable to properly pump the blood through the heart. Defibrillation has the most lifesaving potential when administered within four minutes of cardiac arrest. If a victim has to wait for a defibrillator-equipped ambulance to arrive on the scene, his or her chance of survival drops by 10 percent each minute of the delay. If an AED and a trained responder are available on the scene, the victim's chances for survival increase dramatically. 43 Summary Responding to a situation that requires First Aid, CPR or AED occurs infrequently, but when such a situation occurs you need to understand your response 41 42 Automated external defibrillator. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/automated_external_defibrillator>; July 11, 2011. 43 2012 Universal Protection Service. All rights reserved. 83