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Know the first aid actions that can save lives

2021-06-21T02:39:18.309Z


In case of suffocation, bleeding, malaise, unconsciousness or even cardiac arrest, here are the main reflexes to know before the summer holidays.


Before the emergency medical aid or fire brigade arrives, the first aid measures can often save lives. According to the Ministry of Health, only 20% of the population is trained in life-saving gestures. And although a majority of middle and high school students now receive basic level 1 Civic Prevention and Relief (PSC1) training, it is always useful to remember the reflexes to have in the event of an incident. Le

Figaro

summarizes the five essential actions to know in different life-threatening situations and that everyone can perform.

Before providing assistance, you must first make sure that the victim is not in any additional danger, in the event of a traffic accident or fire, for example.

If the risk of an accident in an intervention is too great, it will be necessary to stay away and wait for the arrival of help.

Suffocation

During a delicious family meal, a sandwich swallowed at the music festival, or a peaceful picnic at the beach, the victim chokes without being able to speak, breathe or cough. Give a maximum of five slaps on the victim's back between the two shoulder blades. Measure of course between each gesture, the success or not of your intervention. If this doesn't work, perform five abdominal compressions, then alternate five slaps on the back and five compressions. We explain exactly how to make these compressions here, called the Heimlich method, named after the American doctor who invented it.

If the person loses consciousness, you will gently lay him down on the ground, then, after alerting the emergency services, you can start heart massage with 120 chest compressions per minute.

To do this, place the heel of the hand in the middle of the bare chest.

Place your second hand on the first, then, arms outstretched, compress the breastbone by about two inches.

Position yourself well in line with the victim Photo credit: defibrillator-france

Resuscitation should be continued until help arrives, or until the victim resumes normal breathing.

Bleeding

If the victim has a wound with continuous blood flow, you will need to apply pressure directly to it to stop the bleeding.

If possible, to avoid contact with the victim's blood, she should exert this pressure herself.

Otherwise, do it yourself, protecting your hands.

Lay the victim down and compress the wound more if the blood continues to flow.

Continue until help arrives.

Loss of consciousness

A person is unconscious if they do not speak or react to your requests but continue to breathe.

Before checking that the victim is breathing, by placing a hand on the chest or bringing the ear to the mouth to listen attentively to the breath, make sure that the breathing voices are perfectly clear, for example by gently leaning towards the mouth. back the victim's head with a hand on his forehead.

If the person is therefore unconscious, the lateral safety position is required.

To practice, we refer you to a previous article which goes over the five precise stages of this gesture.

After alerting the emergency services, check the victim's breathing carefully until their arrival.

Heart disease

What are the symptoms of heart failure?

The victim complains of pain in the chest, and other pain in the upper parts of the body (arm, shoulder, neck or jaw).

The victim may also have difficulty breathing, nausea or even abdominal pain.

Even though heart disease may look like another type of hypoglycemia-like malaise, it's best not to take any chances.

Put the person in a comfortable position (sitting or lying down), then call for help who will give you instructions over the phone.

Cardiac arrest

If the victim is unconscious, and this time, she is not breathing normally, cardiac massage should be started as soon as possible, the chances of survival decreasing very quickly. "

It is estimated today that we lose 10% of chances of survival per minute spent without care after a heart

failure", details for Le

Figaro

doctor Pascal Cassan, national advisor to the Red Cross.

It should also be noted, as the Red Cross website underlines, that in many cardiac arrests, the heart can continue to beat, but very randomly no longer fulfilling its function of blood pump. Cardiovascular resuscitation must nevertheless be undertaken very quickly with 120 chest compressions per minute. You will have to continue until help arrives, or until you have an automated external defibrillator (AED) available. Made available to the public since the law of May 4, 2007, devices of this type are freely accessible throughout the territory, and can be located with applications such as Staying Alive. The defibrillator is an easy-to-use tool. It will be enough to follow the instructions after turning it on.

For people who have been trained there, during PSC1 for example, word of mouth greatly increases the victim's chances of survival.

It will take two breaths for every thirty chest compressions of the cardiac massage.

As with the choking situation, continue resuscitation until first aid arrives or the victim is breathing normally again.

Cold blood

Knowing the first aid measures is essential.

Keep your cool too, to perform the right actions in the right order.

Conversation by telephone with the emergency services must also be clear, concise and precise, so that the information is transmitted perfectly, and the advice of firefighters or doctors and their intervention, better adjusted.

The law of July 3, 2020 created the status of “

citizen rescuer

” in order to encourage people facing a cardiac arrest situation to intervene. This law also plans to train 80% of the population in order to increase the survival rate of victims of sudden death in France from 3% to 10% within 10 years. Training courses such as PSC1 or others more in-depth are organized by the civil protection.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-06-21

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