Importance of First Aid
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First aid is basically the immediate medical attention which can save a person’s life. First aid can prevent a situation from getting worse. It can help a person recover more quickly as well. Medical professionals are usually well trained in first aid, but it’s equally important for the general public to be well-versed in first aid practices. It’s important to have people with knowledge about first aid at homes, schools and workplaces.
Significance of First Aid
Helps save a person’s life
Time is crucial in many medical emergencies. A sick or injured person may not be able to hang on long enough until the medical professionals arrive. For example, at times the medical team can experience difficulty in traveling. In such cases a person with basic knowledge about first aid can come in handy. He can probably save a life by providing aid like CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
Helps in relieving pain
Pain is synonymous with medical emergencies. Even non-life-threatening events/accidents can be traumatizing because of the pain, especially for children. A person with knowledge about first aid can administer the suitable pain medication for the particular situation. Pouring cold water over the burn and preparing an instant activating cold pack are some of the common methods for relieving pain.
‘First Aid’ helps prevent infection
Right kind of first aid training and supplies help us in avoiding infections.Using clean bandages, clean water, soap and petroleum jelly can fasten healing and avoid infection. Quality first aid knowledge helps us in busting the myths. For example, people think it’s acceptable to use Hydrogen Peroxide to sterilize a cut. But in reality, the chemical damages the cells trying to heal the wound.
Facilitates communication
In most of the cases, the person suffering from the emergency may not be in a position to communicate. In such situations, the person who provided the first aid treatment will be giving the medical team key information regarding the accident/emergency.This helps the medicos take right decisions while treating the patient.
Make workplaces safer
Medical emergencies can happen anytime. So it’s important to be prepared all the time. People with first aid knowledge improves the safety at homes, schools and workplaces.
Knowing first aid, helps a business keep its customers safe. For example, at restaurants, someone could burn themselves, cut themselves, or choke. So, the restaurant management should be well equipped to meet such emergencies. On the other hand, in a construction site, there is a high risk of people suffering from dehydration and heatstroke, especially in hot climates. The construction sites should have proper first aid facilities for meeting such challenges.
In short, good first aid facilities make a workplace safer for its staff.
Improves child safety
Kids are always prone to accidents. They tend to run around a lot, exploring things around them. Hence it is important for homes and schools to have proper first aid kits.
School staff should be regularly trained in first aid practices so that they will be able to provide the required treatment to children in times of emergency. A school with ample first aid supply is definitely a safer place to study!
Good first aid facilities help parents and teachers take good care of children. It helps them deal with everything from minor scrapes and bruises to really scary situations like seizures.
‘Peace of mind’
First aid knowledge helps in reducing our fear of medical emergencies. Life is full of unexpected events and mostly out of our control.
Our worst nightmares are something happening to our near and dear ones. In a way, good first aid knowledge helps in reducing our anxiety and makes us better prepared for frightening scenarios.
Boosts job opportunities
Knowledge of first aid is vital for certain jobs like that of a lifeguard, flight attendant, social worker, and childcare provider.
Helps in reducing recovery time
Not giving proper first aid care can sometimes even lead to death of a person. For example, in an accident, if someone is suffering from a wound, and no one is able to stop the bleeding before the emergency services show up, the person will suffer from substantial blood loss, lowering blood pressure. This might even lead to organ failure.
Hence knowing first aid, being able to stop the bleeding and dress the wound properly, makes the patient’s recovery easier and faster.
Saves money
First aid not only helps us in saving lives, but also helps us in saving money.
In case, we have enough first aid knowledge to deal with a wound or minor burn, we can treat ourselves, avoiding infection and the need to go to a doctor. This ultimately helps us in saving our valuable money.
Conclusion
Hence, first aid not only prevents serious situations from escalating, it saves life, time and money. Proper first aid care makes homes safer places to live, schools safer places to study and offices better places to work!
World First Aid Day is celebrated every year on the second Saturday of September, to promote awareness on how first aid can save millions of lives worldwide.
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Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Pouring cold water over the burn and preparing an instant activating cold pack are some of the common methods for relieving pain.
Second Saturday of every September.