why learning first-aid techniques is vital: ‘you are the true first responders’

have you ever disinfected a cut before putting a band-aid on it at home? or maybe you’ve iced your knee after an injury. that’s first aid.

“first aiders, so the general public, so people like yourselves, you’re the true first responders,” said michael nemeth, a career paramedic, firefighter and volunteer manager of compliance and strategic solutions with the canadian red cross.

not many people may feel that fixing a cut or tending to an injury at home counts as first aid, but realistically, anything people do to care for themselves after an accidental injury is, in and of itself, first aid.

but when it comes to higher-tier levels of first aid, like how to create a tourniquet for a major bleed or help someone who’s choking, many people don’t have the skills required to handle certain situations because “most people aren’t very proactive about learning unless they have a solid reason to.”

the lack of desire to learn more in-depth first-aid techniques stems from two reasons.

“unfortunately, a lot of people have the opinion of, ‘it will never happen to me.’ so, the primary people that take it are people that need it for work or school,” said nemeth. “there’s a lot of myths out there, unfortunately, and a lot of the concerns are sometimes people have heard of bad experiences or heard, ‘oh, if i help someone, i’m going to get sued.”

these myths that it could never happen to you or it’s not worth it because helping only gets you in trouble keep people from learning basic and potentially life-saving measures that far more people should know.

you’re the first link in a chain reaction

when someone gets injured or needs medical assistance, as nemeth mentioned, the general public is always on the scene first, whether it be at home with family or out in the world with strangers. and that initial reaction from whoever is around when the emergency happens is the first link in a long chain reaction.

when nemeth worked as a paramedic, who are often called first responders, he states that’s not the case.

“we’re the second responders, because without you, my job is useless. without me, the nurse’s job is useless; without the nurses, the doctor’s job is useless; without the docs, the surgeons are useless; without surgeons, physical therapy is useless,” he said. “it’s that big cycle, and it all starts with the person who’s there at the time of the injury or the occurrence.”

the general public, or the lay responder as nemeth puts it, can ensure that a person’s health fares far better when paramedics do arrive if they’re prepared with the best first-aid techniques.

for example, nemeth described a first-hand experience of someone administering compressions when someone went into cardiac arrest. the lay responder continued to pump oxygen throughout the body and to the brain with those compressions, and even though they weren’t doing it perfectly, they bought the patient time.

since it takes only about four to six minutes for the brain to start dying without oxygen, those minutes of compressions from a prepared stranger made a significant difference for the person in cardiac arrest waiting for paramedics to arrive.

“without their help, the outcome of that patient would have been completely different,” he said. “but because they helped to the best of their ability … the patient survived that episode, which is great.”

types of first-aid techniques everyone should know

the biggest thing in first aid, notes nemeth, is prevention. while this doesn’t directly address an injury or accident, it does make it a lot more challenging for them to happen in day-to-day life.

“take a look around their household; they have an emergency plan set, they check their smoke detectors, their co detectors, and make sure there’s no debris that’s hanging around, like extension cords,” he said. “when they’re using sharp knives, they’re sheathed up appropriately, and they’re taking their time, and they’re not rushing.”

rushing is especially dangerous in various ways. for example, if a person rushes to eat, it increases their risk of choking. if they rush to prepare dinner, that’s when they’re more likely to cut themselves. rushing around the house when there’s something left on the floor can lead to a trip to the ground out of nowhere.

“having a properly stocked first-aid kit at home and knowing where it is is important as well,” said nemeth.

for the more intense issues, such as cardiac arrest, a larger laceration that leads to heavy bleeding, or choking, nemeth suggests that the best way to learn how to perform techniques adequately is by taking a class. having hands-on experience can also help you determine if someone needs to be turned to their side in the event that they vomit versus when they should remain on their back.

for example, you could watch a video of someone doing chest compressions and see where on the chest pressure is being applied, but you won’t really know how much pressure to apply, for how long, and how quickly.

“you need hands-on training. you need to know how to, say, with cpr, how deep to actually push, because ideally, it’s five to six centimetres in a real-life scenario,” he said. “it’s all muscle memory.”

what he means by that is that in an emergency situation, the fight-or-flight response kicks in, and in that moment, your brain could be overwhelmed with assessing danger and damage while also trying to help someone. but if you have the movements down pat through muscle memory, it will take over, even if you’re not thinking as clearly as possible.

“once you have that [motor skill] that’s ingrained in that amygdala [fight-or-flight centre of the brain]. so, in an emergency, you will do that,” said nemeth.

the same can be said with choking and other forms of first aid, such as securing, tourniqueting and wrapping a deep cut that’s bleeding, where the physical skill of actually having done it on a training mannequin will kick in right at the exact moment you need it to.

“you can’t just watch the scene. you know what you’re doing because you need to get that muscle skill in there because if that muscle skill is not in here, your amygdala is going to flush it out, and in an emergency, you’re not going to remember what to do,” he said.

and it’s not just because you’re not a trained professional. it’s because that’s just how the brain works.

“it’s the same with us. there’s times i’ve responded to say, motor vehicle accidents, and you’re busy caring for a patient and when you leave and you have time to catch or take a breath, you take a look going, ‘i didn’t realize how dynamic that scene truly was,’ because you’re focused on a specific task.”

taking a class will also help with the psychological aspect of being the first one at a scene where someone is hurt, injured or has suddenly fallen ill. it prepares you for the “shock piece” that can inevitably occur when you have to administer care, watch someone you love vomit unconsciously, or help keep oxygen flowing so that the brain doesn’t die while waiting for paramedics to arrive.

how to perform first aid properly

first-aid classes are the best way to learn techniques that could lead to life-saving measures. but there are a few key aspects of providing first-response care to follow.

“within red cross, we have something called check, call, care,” said nemeth.

checking your surroundings it the first thing a person should do on the scene of any injury or accident. ask yourself, are you safe to perform first aid? for example, if you’re in a diner and another patron suddenly has a heart attack, you can likely look around and find yourself to be safe enough to call 9-1-1 and administer cpr.

however, an accident on the highway is a different story. nemeth notes that they never encourage people to stop at the side of a highway after an accident to offer help or see what’s going on because the scene isn’t secure and it could cause more injury to those who try to assist. he suggests skipping the check and calling 9-1-1 right away.

“it’s really important to identify where it is and never make the assumption that someone has called. always be the person who calls. now, emergency dispatchers are okay accepting 200 phone calls on the same incident because at least they’ve received it rather than not receiving it whatsoever,” he said. “you’ll hear media stories where people complain, ‘well, it took emergency help 30 minutes to get it.’ and it’s like, no, it actually took someone 26 minutes to call for help and took emergency services four minutes to get there because everyone makes that assumption.”

now, if your situation is more like the diner, after you’ve checked for safety, you can move on to step two: call.

“if the person is unresponsive, so they’re not waking up to you, it appears that they’re struggling, they’re having a hard time breathing or not breathing at all, then calling, getting help on the way, because a lot of people believe it or not will forget to call 9-1-1,” said nemeth, noting that you can either do it yourself or designate someone else to call.

once help is on the way, you can start providing cpr if they’re unresponsive or not breathing, or help slow the bleeding of a severe injury with a tourniquet if they are awake but significantly injured.

once help has arrived, you can step back and let them take it from there. but if you’re unsure whether a 9-1-1 call is necessary, knowing the difference matters too. that’s where taking a class is vital.

“there are some continual bleeds that definitely do have to [be seen by a medical professional], and knowing what that benchmark is is the important thing,” said nemeth. “every person is different based on what their medical history is, based on what kind of medications they’re taking; there are just so many variables that can be put into it. so, it’s understanding the signs, and that comes into actually physically taking part in that class and doing it or going through the app [red cross app] in that aspect.”

making the time to take a class and always be prepared at home

people lead busy lives, and if they don’t think they’ll ever need it, taking a first aid class isn’t on their radar. but being prepared is vital because “everyone will need some level of care sometime.”

some classes are only four hours, and in that time, you can be well-versed in life-saving techniques that you won’t ever want to need, but will have in worst-case scenarios that pop up in your life.

it’s also important to keep your first-aid kits at home up to date, because bandages and other items may lose effectiveness over time, so you’re ready for emergencies if they arise. having everything from items to disinfect and stop bleeding to naloxone for drug overdoses is good for a standard first-aid kit. for people who don’t believe they need it, or they’ve never been told they need it for school or work, nemeth suggests thinking of things this way:

“this [first-aid measures] is going to be for a loved one, someone who’s very close to you. so, it’s important to be prepared. so, if it’s a child or a family member or anything along those lines, you can help them out.”