Each person should know the basic first aid rules by heart! You never know when you’ll need them, but you can be sure of one thing: you won’t have time to read the instructions.

With the help of the International Red Cross Movement app, We have prepared some information for you that will show you what to do in different emergency situations.

The Essential Guide To First Aid

Bleeding

First Things First:

  • Press on the wound to stop or slow down the bleeding.
  • If the bleeding is strong call an ambulance.
  • Press on the wound until help arrives.

Weak Bleeding:

  • Rinse a small cut or a scratch with water.
  • Don’t apply iodine to an open wound; instead, use hydrogen peroxide.
  • Apply a bandage.

Nosebleed:

  • Press down the wings of the nose and advise the injured person to bend over and breathe through their mouth.
  • Don’t ask him or her to bend backward — blood may flow into the trachea or stomach and provoke vomiting.
  • If the bleeding doesn’t stop within 15-20 minutes, call an ambulance.

Strong Bleeding:

  • Press on the wound with gauze tissue or bandage, but you can also use your hand, shirt, towel, or any other bandaging.
  • If blood soaks through the bandage, don’t take it off and apply another one right above it to keep the pressure.
  • Remember: a tourniquet is applied only to stop strong, arterial bleeding.

Arterial Bleeding:

  • Firstly, press directly on the wound, apply a tight bandage, bend the injured limb at the joint as much as you can, and press the artery down with your finger.
  • Only if none of the above helps, apply a tourniquet above the wound and over the clothes. If the victim is not wearing tong clothes, put something between the tourniquet and the skin.
  • It’s essential to mark the time you applied the tourniquet. You need to tell this information to the doctors.

Questions:

A person is pale, dizzy, and has chills. What does this mean? This means the person is going into shock. You should call an ambulance immediately.

Can I contract an infection if I touch the blood of another person? It is best to avoid contact with another person’s blood. You can use medical gloves or a PE bag, or ask the injured person to press on the wound him/herself.

Should I wash the wound? You may wash small cuts or bruises, but if the bleeding is significant, do not wash it — you will wash off the caked blood, and the bleeding will get stronger.

What should I do if there is a foreign object inside the wound? Do not take it out — it can make the bleeding worse. Instead, apply a tight bandage around the object.

Fractures

How To Tell:

Swelling, bruising, or a sharp pain may appear; the bone might also lie in an unnatural position. In a worst case scenario, the limb may be deformed or have an open wound.

What To Do In Case Of A Closed Fracture:

1. Ask the person to support the injured limb with his/her hand, and place the limb on a cushion or several layers of clothes to prevent excess movement.

2. Apply cold (a pack of ice) to the injured place.

3. If the injured limb is obviously deformed or is extremely painful, call an ambulance.

4. Make sure the injured limb is at rest until help arrives.

5. If there is no way to call an ambulance and you have to transport the injured person by yourself, apply a splint to the broken limb.

How To Apply A Splint:

A splint is applied so that the joints above and below the place of the fracture are secured.

You can use sticks, planks, rulers, bars, cardboard, plywood, etc. as a splint. If the fracture is closed, the splint can be applied over the clothes.

If the fracture is open, you shouldn’t apply the splint to places where bone fragments are visible.

The whole length of the splint (except the fractured area itself) should be fixed to the limb with a bandage, but not too tight so as not to hinder the blood flow. In the case of a lower limb fracture, place a splint on both sides.

If there is nothing to use as a splint around, you can secure an injured leg by bandaging it to the other one, and an injured arm can be bandaged to the body.

Important!

If the bone looks unnatural or you see a shift in it, do not attempt to set it yourself.

Preview image credit: gadgetmaniac