What are the basic first aid skills?

There are actually a few core basic first aid skills that ordinary people need to master, which can cover more than 90% of daily emergency scenarios. There is no need to memorize complicated side knowledge, and mastering the core ones is enough to save lives.

A while ago, I was doing a free emergency science clinic in the community and met Aunt Zhang who was dancing in the square downstairs. She said that last year, her husband suddenly fell to the ground while dancing. She couldn't even scream, and she even had no pulse when she touched her neck. Fortunately, she had learned cardiopulmonary resuscitation from the community before. She squatted down and pressed her chest hard. In less than two minutes, 120 rushed to pick her up. In the end, she was rescued without any sequelae. If she had panicked and done nothing at that time, the golden 4 minutes would have passed by the time 120 came over, and there was a high probability that she would not be able to save her. Ordinary people don’t need to go into details when learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation. They just need to focus on the three steps of “call, press, and defibrillate”: first tap the shoulder to call the person to judge consciousness. If there is no response, call 120 immediately. Then find the position where the two nipples are connected in the middle of the chest, press down hard with the heel of the palm, and press 100-120 times per minute. , the depth is about 5 centimeters. If you have an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) around, you can use it directly. Now subway stations, shopping malls, and schools are basically equipped with it. Just follow the voice prompts and don’t dare to touch it. This thing will automatically determine whether to defibrillate, and it will not shock anyone if you operate it incorrectly.

Apart from such fatal and critical illnesses, the most common injuries we encounter every day are all kinds of injuries. A few months ago, a child in the community fell while playing skateboarding. A large piece of skin fell off his arm and was bleeding. The parents nearby panicked and covered the wound with toilet paper, and sprinkled Yunnan Baiyao powder on the wound. In fact, doing so would easily trap dirt in the wound and leave scars. For small skin abrasions, first wash away dirt and other dirt with running water, disinfect with iodophor, and apply pressure with sterile gauze or clean cotton cloth for three to five minutes to basically stop bleeding. If the bleeding spurts out, it is most likely that the artery has been injured. Use a clean piece of hard cloth to press hard on the end of the bleeding point near the heart. Do not tie the tourniquet blindly. Many people tie the tourniquet in the wrong position and for too long. In the end, the blood stops and the arms and legs become necrotic. It is not worth the loss. If there is a foreign object such as a nail or shard of glass stuck in the wound, don't pull it out casually. Inserting it will compress the blood vessel and reduce bleeding. If you pull it out, it may pierce the large blood vessel and cause serious problems. Find a hard object to fix the foreign object and stop it from shaking. Just send it to the hospital directly.

There is another type of accident that occurs frequently, especially for those with elderly and children at home, which is the disposal of foreign objects stuck in the throat. Last week, I met a grandma feeding peanuts to her three-year-old grandson in the fruit shop downstairs. The child laughed twice and suddenly turned purple from holding it in. I patted him on the back for a long time but couldn't get anything out of it. A young mother next to me rushed up and hugged the child from behind, fisting her belly button. Push up hard twice with two fingers on the face, and the child spits out the peanut with a cry. This is the Heimlich maneuver. If an adult gets stuck by himself and there is no one around, he can find a corner of the table or the back of a stool and hit the same position twice hard to get out. Don’t believe in the old remedies of drinking vinegar or swallowing rice if you have stuck fish bones. Soaking in vinegar for a long time will not dissolve the fish bones. Swallowing rice may push the fish bones deeper into the esophagus, or even pierce the esophagus and cause mediastinal infection. That is much more troublesome than having a stuck fish bone.

Of course, there are also many people who struggle with some controversial operations, such as whether to pinch the person's middle when they faint. There are currently two opinions in the industry: one group believes that pinching the person's middle can stimulate the pain response, facilitate quick judgment of the injured person's state of consciousness, and can also have a wake-up effect on people with mild syncope.； The other group believes that pinching has no clear first-aid effect. Many people pinch the injured person's lips too hard when pinching, and even press the injured person's head down in order to pinch the person, blocking the airway, which is dangerous. In fact, for ordinary people, there is really no need to worry about this. When someone faints, first feel for breathing and pulse. If the breathing and heartbeat are normal, turn the person over and lie on their side to avoid vomiting and choking. Just wait for 120 to come. Whether to pinch the person or not is really not the point.

There is really no need to be greedy and learn a bunch of fancy skills. Practice these most commonly used ones and take an hour or two every year to go to the community or the Red Cross for free training once. It is more effective than watching popular science videos ten times. When you encounter something, don’t panic first, and you will have won over most people.