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First aid audioblog: Would you know what to do?

By Ben Stickley
December 3, 2009 at 1:10 pm

Hello, and welcome to Red Cross Radio. If someone collapsed in front of you, would you know what to do? I’m Ben Stickley, and I’m here with my colleagues Billy Cometti and Brad Smith. Brad is one of our first aid experts, so Billy and I are going to throw some first aid scenarios at him, to find out what we should do.

While you are listening picture yourself in that situation and have a think what you would do. You might just find you need to brush up on some of your first aid knowledge!

Ready? Here we go.

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Transcript

Billy: OK Brad, picture this, you are out rock climbing at Birchen Edge and your friend falls off. He hits the ground and is shouting in pain, it also looks like he is going into shock.

Brad, what should you do?

Ouch, sounds painful! As always, you should remember your DR ABC – that’s D for danger, R for response, A for checking for an open airway, B for breathing and and C for circulation. Find out more on our website, redcross.org.uk, by searching for DR ABC.

As he’s shouting in pain you can assume he’s breathing. You’ve said it looks like he’s going in to shock – that should be expected if he’s lost a lot of bodily fluids, like blood, so make sure you check his body for any signs of this and treat the blood loss with a bandage. Don’t rule out internal bleeding, either, if you suspect shock, and you can’t see any blood, he could be bleeding internally.

Once you’ve stopped the loss of fluid, elevate his legs, treat any other conditions you find and use a blanket to keep him warm.

Get them to hospital quickly and phone 999, asking for mountain rescue if you’re on your own.

Ben: I’ve been on nights out and seen people start staggering and fall over unexpectedly. What should I do?

Brad: I’ve seen that before, Ben. It’s not a nice situation.

Firstly, remember your DR ABC. Think about how the person got into this state but don’t jump to conclusions. While they may be suffering from alcohol poisoning, they could have just fainted, or be diabetic.

If they’re not breathing normally, phone for an ambulance and start CPR.

If they’re still breathing, look for any other signs of injury that may have caused them to collapse. For example, signs of a skull fracture or fluid leaking from their ears might indicate a serious head injury. Treat any signs or symptoms of injury you find. Put them in the recovery position – watch the video on our website if necessary – and most importantly, phone for an ambulance.

Watch the video on our website to find out how to put someone in the recovery position if you’re not sure how to.

Ben: that answers that one, thanks!

Billy: OK Brad, here’s a hypothetical scenario for you. You are walking along the riverside and suddenly a lady in a kayak goes over a weir and rolls over. When she comes up from under the kayak it looks like she has dislocated her shoulder in the process.

What should you do?

Brad: Well Billy, as always, remember your DR ABC. Assuming she’s breathing, you can go straight on to confirming what’s wrong.

Compare the suspected injured shoulder with their other one and look for obvious differences

if it’s obviously dislocated, DO NOT try to put it back into position

Support the arm in a position that’s comfortable for her – you could use a sling if she’ll let you.

Arrange for transport to hospital to get it X-Rayed, phoning 999 if necessary

Billy: great, thanks Brad.

If you want your own first aid question answered visit our blog site, blogs.redcross.org.uk/firstaid and ask me directly. We’ll be featuring more scenarios in another podcast soon. You never know, your scenario might be next.

Comments (4) »

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The Red Cross values comments both complimentary and critical. However, we will not tolerate the following: aggressive or personal criticism of the blogger, breach of copyright, obscene, defamatory, profane, sexually oriented, racially offensive or likewise objectionable comments.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 1:10 pm and is filed under First aid, Podcasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • chris lloyd

    With regards to the fallen climber scenario would you not assume yes he is breathing the dangers of rock fall, treat for bleeding if and able too, plus he has had a fall from a height we would presume of at least 50ft min, therefore raising the legs would be an issue especially as he/she may have spinal injury.
    my immediate reaction would be drabc but getting an mrt out 9mountain rescue team) or ambulance. keep him warm and keep talking to him to assertain his levels of conciousness while waiting for EMS, possibly also place a kneck collar to protect c- spine

  • chris lloyd

    With regards to the fallen climber scenario would you not assume yes he is breathing the dangers of rock fall, treat for bleeding if and able too, plus he has had a fall from a height we would presume of at least 50ft min, therefore raising the legs would be an issue especially as he/she may have spinal injury.
    my immediate reaction would be drabc but getting an mrt out 9mountain rescue team) or ambulance. keep him warm and keep talking to him to assertain his levels of conciousness while waiting for EMS, possibly also place a kneck collar to protect c- spine

  • http://www.redcross.org.uk/ Brad Smith

    Hi Chris,

    I must admit I assumed my friend hadn’t fallen from quite such a height – I assumed we were out climbing one of the lower points of Birchen Edge and he’d fallen pretty soon after setting off!

    Fractures are a possible cause of shock, whether open or closed – a closed fracture might be your cause of internal bleeding – so after your DR ABC, and as part of looking for what’s causing the shock, you should be looking for possible signs of fracture and treating as appropriate.

    If he had fallen from a significant height, then yes, I’d definitely be suspecting a spinal injury. Check for neck or back pain. With any suspected spinal injury you should only move them if their life is in danger. Find out more about treating spinal injuries on our website.

    Shock can kill people if left untreated. Get mountain rescue and an ambulance on the way quickly. 999 operators will be able to help people assess the sitation further and advise what treatment to take in particular circumstances if necessary.

  • http://www.redcross.org.uk Brad Smith

    Hi Chris,

    I must admit I assumed my friend hadn’t fallen from quite such a height – I assumed we were out climbing one of the lower points of Birchen Edge and he’d fallen pretty soon after setting off!

    Fractures are a possible cause of shock, whether open or closed – a closed fracture might be your cause of internal bleeding – so after your DR ABC, and as part of looking for what’s causing the shock, you should be looking for possible signs of fracture and treating as appropriate.

    If he had fallen from a significant height, then yes, I’d definitely be suspecting a spinal injury. Check for neck or back pain. With any suspected spinal injury you should only move them if their life is in danger. Find out more about treating spinal injuries on our website.

    Shock can kill people if left untreated. Get mountain rescue and an ambulance on the way quickly. 999 operators will be able to help people assess the sitation further and advise what treatment to take in particular circumstances if necessary.

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Ben Stickley

Ben Stickley

I'm an internal communications officer at the British Red Cross. I spend my time across the South East of the country finding out what's going on.

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