What are the basic first aid skills?

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED operation for cardiac arrest, Heimlich maneuver for foreign bodies stuck in the throat, initial treatment of common emergencies such as wound hemostasis bandaging, burns, heatstroke, poisoning, sprains and fractures, and other more complicated matters can be left to medical care. There is really no need to be greedy.

Don't mention it. I met a young man when I was giving a presentation in the business district last week. He said that at the end of last year, he encountered a child next to him at a hot pot restaurant who had stuffy belly stuck in his throat.

Speaking of which, I have to mention the most troubling point for everyone: many people think that first aid is a matter of medical care, and they dare not use it without a certificate, fearing that they will be held responsible if they press the wrong button. In fact, the Civil Code has long had a liability exemption clause for well-intentioned rescuers. Even if the actions are not so standard, as long as they are for the purpose of saving people, they do not need to be held responsible. I met an online ride-hailing driver before who met someone who had a heart attack and fainted on the road. He pressed the button for seven or eight minutes based on the popular science video he had seen before. When the ambulance came, the doctor said that although the frequency of his compressions was occasionally too fast, it had saved the patient's most precious brain blood supply. After the patient was rescued, he even gave him a special banner.

There are also many controversial folk first aid methods, such as the most familiar ones for treating burns and scalds. Many people still believe in the traditional methods of applying toothpaste, applying soy sauce, and spreading incense ash. During our training, every time we corrected them, the older generation would question, "I was burnt when I was a child and it was cured by applying toothpaste." Objectively speaking, very mild, small-area burns that have not broken the skin are Temporarily applying some mild toothpaste without granules can temporarily relieve the pain, but if the burn is blistered or even broken, these things will only increase the risk of infection and burden the doctor in subsequent cleaning of the wound. The correct way to do it is to rinse it with running cold water for more than 15 minutes. Don't apply it randomly, simply wrap it with clean gauze and go to the hospital.

If you encounter someone who falls down on the street, don't try to help them. Squat down first and ask them if they can move and if there is any severe pain. If you suspect that you have hit your cervical or lumbar spine, or have obvious fractures and deformities, don't move them casually. Otherwise, it may just be a broken bone, but if you pull it, it may cause dislocation or even injury. When the nerves caused paralysis, a high school student kindly helped an old lady who fell on the side of the road. He didn't notice that the old woman's lumbar vertebrae had been fractured. The help directly caused the vertebrae to become misaligned and compress the nerves. It took her half a year to recover. This is not to say that she is not allowed to do good deeds, but to make a basic judgment first before reaching out, which can actually help the other person.

In fact, these skills are not as difficult as everyone thinks. If you take an hour to go to a free trial class in the community or the Red Cross to touch the simulator and practice Heimlich's movements twice, you can basically remember most of them. When you are really in trouble, daring to reach out is much more important than having 100% standard movements.