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We are deeply grateful to the American Red Cross for
preparing information on what to do in case of First Aid Emergency. With many of
our lodges located on second or third floors, usually with no elevator ser-vice,
we really need to be aware of what to do should an emergency anse.
Not only should we have First Aid assistance available in
the lodge rooms, but many Masons are interested in another aspect of our Masonic
outreach “community service.”
We hope this Short Talk will help point out the seriousness
of the problem when First Aid assistance is required—it’s needed now!
·
Editor
You’re seated at a banquet, dinner is winding down and the
evening’s speaker advances to the podium. But he doesn’t make it. Reaching for the microphone, he clutches
his chest and collapses to the floor. He is having a heart attack. Would you
know what to do? Would anyone in the room know what to do?
Since the turn of the century, the American Red Cross has
been committed to teaching Red Cross first aid to the public. The organization
has always believed that a citizenry educated in first aid is better able to
prevent the thousands of needless deaths each year from heart attacks, strokes,
choking and other common health diseases and accidents. About 1,500 people die
every day from heart attacks alone. When Red Cross CPR is combined, within
minutes, with quick delivery of the right medical care, it has been shown that
about 40 percent of heart attack victims can be resuscitated.
Thus, there is no better way to learn how to prevent a
needless death in your home, your office, your lodge, or your civic group’s
banquet hall than by taking a Red Cross first aid and CPR course. Virtually
every community in the country has access to Red Cross-certified courses which,
when successfully completed, allow one to help save the life of one’s spouse,
one’s child, one’s best friend or a complete stranger.
The key to saving the life of your banquet speaker, in this
instance, is knowing how to evaluate the situation, provide appropriate Red
Cross first aid immediately and at the same time access a fully equipped
emergency medical services (EMS) team (i.e., an ambulance). Normally this means
going yourself or sending someone else to a phone, and dialing 911. The caller
should be prepared to tell the EMS dispatcher—
ù The exact location of the emergency (address, nearby
intersections or landmarks, name of building, room number).
ù The telephone number of the phone being
ù The caller’s name.
ù What happened.
ù The victim’s condition.
ù The help being given.
Do not hang up. The dispatcher may have more
questions.
In general, there are several steps that should be followed
in any kind of emergency from the time that one recognizes the problem to the
time when help arrives.
Before you intervene in an emergency make sure that you
have taken steps to survey the scene.
Step one: Find out if the scene is safe. You can’t help
someone else if you become a victim yourself. This applies to such things as
toxic accidents, traffic accidents and some natural disasters such as a flood
where there is fastrunning water.
Step two: Find out what happened. If the victim is
conscious, ask some specific questions to find out what’s wrong and how bad it
is. Often the scene itself will reveal the nature and extent of the problem. If
the victim is unconscious, look for a medical alert tag, which may tell you how
to provide medical care to the victim. This can be done while you check
breathing and pulse.
Step three: Find out if there is more than one victim. In
an auto accident, people may have been thrown from the car or walked away in a
daze.
Step four: Find out if there are bystanders who can help.
Shout for “HELP.” A bystander may be able to seek help while you are assessing
the victim’s condition. If a bystander is a family member, he or she may be able
to provide more medical information and offer emotional support while waiting
for the EMS team to arrive.
Step five: Tell the victim and the bystanders that you are
trained in Red Cross first aid. This will help to reassure the victim and let
others know that a trained person is in charge.
Before giving Red Cross first aid to a conscious victim, it is important
that you obtain his or her consent. Simply say, “Hi, my name is (blank). I know
Red Cross first aid and I can help you until an ambulance arrives; is that OK?”
When you come upon an accident victim, he or she may not be
moving. To determine whether a victim is responsive, gently tap on the shoulder
and ask, “Are you OK?” If assistance is needed, you may need to shout to get
help while you proceed with the primary survey by checking for an open airway,
breathing and circulation (the ABCs) .
Airway: Does the victim have an open airway (the passage
that allows the victim to breathe)? The most important action for successful
resuscitation is to immediately open an unconscious victim’s airway using the
head-tilt/ chin-lift method. This lifts the tongue away from the back of the
throat and opens the airway.
Breathing: Check for breathlessness. Look for the chest to
rise and fall, listen for breathing and feel for air coming out of the victim’s
nose and mouth.
Circulation: Is the person’s heart beating? (Does the
person have a pulse?) To check to see if the victim’s heart is beating, feel for
a pulse at the side of the neck. This is called the carotid pulse. Is the person
bleeding severely? Feel and look over the victim’s body to determine if bleeding
is present. If there is severe bleeding (arterial bleeding), it must be
controlled immediately. Complete the ABCs before beginning any urgent Red Cross
first aid treatment, as there may be more than one life-threatening problem
occurring at the same time.
Life-threatening conditions must be given first aid before less serious
conditions. It is more important, for example, to give breathing to someone who
is not breathing than to splint a broken arm or bandage a minor cut. In an
emergency, remember to shout for help and find a way so that you or a bystander
can immediately phone for EMS assistance. The above outlines the foundation of
Red Cross first aid. However, anyone who is serious about learning first aid so
that he or she is prepared to save a life, must take a Red Cross first aid and
CPR course. Call your Red Cross chapter for information about when the course is
offered. A Red Cross instructor can come to your lodge to teach the course. And
remember, the life you save may be your wife’s, your child’s or your best
friend’s. Emergencies only happen to other people-until it is too late. So call
your local Red Cross chapter now.
Infant and Child CPR
Community CPR
CPR:Basic Life Support for the
Professional Rescuer
Standard First Aid
Is It Safe?
Do A Primary Survey
Check for Unresponsiveness
(ABCs)
Airway Breathing Circulation
Do a Secondary Survey
ù Interview
ù Vital Signs
ù Head-to-Toe Exam