What are the types of basic first aid skills?

The essence of basic first aid skills is pre-hospital treatment technology designed for the general public and can be operated without complex medical equipment. The core is based on the principle of "saving lives first, treating injuries later", covering the most common accident scenarios such as cardiac arrest, traumatic emergencies, foreign body obstruction, and common sudden diseases. Most of them can be used independently after 4-8 hours of offline practical training.

I have been volunteering as a community first aid worker for almost 3 years. The most dangerous out-of-hospital accident I encountered was cardiac arrest. CPR + AED use are the highest priority skills among all basic first aid skills. Last month when I was on duty in a business district, I encountered this once. A man in his 40s who was shopping for clothes with his wife suddenly fell straight down and couldn't move his neck. The pulse was not palpable. The high school student next to me who had just obtained the first aid certificate knelt down and performed chest compressions without hesitation. I got the AED from the business district and followed the voice prompts. In less than 5 minutes, the person had already recovered his weak breathing by the time 120 arrived. In a situation where no one dared to take action, it would most likely be too late by the time the ambulance arrived. Speaking of AED, it is really not as difficult as everyone thinks. There are step-by-step voice instructions when you turn it on. Even if the depth and frequency of compressions are slightly different, it is still better than waiting in place.

Apart from this kind of near-death scenario, what we encounter most every day is the treatment of small injuries. This part of the skill may seem broken, but it can best prevent small injuries from turning into big problems. Last week, an aunt came to the health station to treat a wound. She cut a finger artery while cutting vegetables, and the blood flow couldn't be stopped. She sprinkled half a handful of flour at home and wrapped it in thick toilet paper. When she came, the wound was covered with paste. It took almost 20 minutes to clean it up, but she was still afraid of infection. In fact, basic trauma first aid requires just a few steps to remember. Just stick to the key points: when bleeding occurs, first apply a clean cloth to the wound to stop bleeding. Don’t spread toothpaste, incense ash or other messy things. Apply cold compresses first to sprains instead of rubbing them. If you suffer from burns, flush cold water for at least 15 minutes before taking off your clothes. There is no threshold for these operations. If you remember them, you can avoid a lot of mistakes.

There is another type of emergency that can be fatal in an emergency, which is a foreign object stuck in the throat, especially for the elderly and children. When eating nuts or jelly, it gets stuck in the airway without paying attention, and the face becomes red and speechless. At this time, the Heimlich maneuver can mostly be solved quickly. Last year, there were cases in the community A 2-year-old baby got stuck after eating an orange. My grandma came to our popular science class before. She immediately put the baby upside down on her arm and patted the middle of the shoulder blades. The orange flap came out in three strokes. If we had waited for 120 to come over, the child might have been deprived of oxygen after seven or eight minutes. In addition, the rapid identification of common emergencies such as stroke and myocardial infarction also belongs to the category of basic first aid. For example, when judging a stroke, remember a simple FAST principle: look for asymmetry in the face, whether one arm can be raised, and whether the speech is clear. If you have any of these three symptoms, call 120 immediately to grab the golden time for treatment.

At this point, I have to mention that many online first aid science contents are complicated, and there is actually no unified conclusion in the industry for many operations. For example, there are two different views on whether to give Suxiao Jiuxin Pills to patients with suspected myocardial infarction: one is that if the patient has a clear history of coronary heart disease and is still awake, Jiuxin Pills can be taken sublingually to relieve symptoms.； The other believes that it is difficult for ordinary people to accurately distinguish whether chest pain is caused by myocardial infarction, aortic dissection or pulmonary embolism. Blindly taking medicine may aggravate the condition. The safest way to deal with this situation is to call 120 first and let the patient lie down to keep breathing unobstructed and not move casually.

In fact, when we learn basic first aid, we don’t need to pursue professionalism and accuracy. The core is to dare to take action at critical moments. Nowadays, red societies and communities all over the country basically provide free practical training. Spend a short half day practicing your hands. When you encounter an accident, at least you won’t panic and your hands will shake. You may be able to save the lives of people around you.