Providing First Aid To Car Accident Victims
Posted: Monday, June 13, 2005
by Jinky Mesias
The first thing to do in case of car accident is to remain calm and not to panic. After you calm yourself, the next best thing to do is to seek for help quickly however we all know from movies that help often times comes later on in the movie which is sadly to say also happens in real life and so for cases such as this it is always practical and sensible to apply first aid solutions.
The main concern of giving first aid solutions is to save lives as well as to provide temporary relief to injuries due to the impact of car accidents. However, injuries due to car accidents doesn’t necessarily mean that there would be wounds nevertheless the absence of wounds does not in any way indicates that the victim is not harmed or is completely all right. Examples of these kind of injuries are those found in the head or the abdomen wherein symptoms are not readily manifested however victims still need to be accompanied to a secured place until professional help arrive.
In addition, victims of car accidents have to be examined in three areas and these are the airways, breathing and circulation areas. However, in cases wherein a victim suffers from a broken neck, first aid rule requires to refrain from mishandling or to move the victim since such injury may lead to a permanent disability. On the other hand, it is much better to check the airways first since the lack of oxygen for more than three minutes can be fatal. Signs of airway obstruction are manifested by the color of the lips, breathing sound and then the feel of the exhaled air on your cheek. In case the victim is not breathing, feel the inside of the victim’s mouth with your finger to know what’s causing the obstruction. This action will tend to pull the tongue of the victim forward thus restoring the airway. Afterwards, check the breathing of the victim however there are cases wherein after the removal of the obstruction from the airways the victim still fails to breathe, such case calls for a mouth to mouth resuscitation. To initiate the resuscitation process, the first thing to do is to take a deep breath and then pinch the victim’s nostrils together and then seal your lips around the victim’s mouth. And then check the victim’s chest to see whether air has already reached his lungs and if you see his chest rise then that is an indication that the victim will be able breathe again.
For cases, wherein victims are bleeding to death, again it is important not to panic. In cases wherein there is continuous bleeding and then a significant drop in blood pressure it is advisable to stop the bleeding by means of clogging the wound by means of pressing against it with your thumb. The pressure you applied on the wound would stop it from bleeding. And for victims whose spine are injured it is best to gently lift the neck and then try to keep the victim to look straight to his front and remember not to let the head flop from either side or else this will paralyzed the victim.
Jinky C. Mesias is a lover of simple things and of nature. She spends most of her time reading and writing poetry.
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NO ! I teach CPR (basic And Advanced) & first aid. You NEVER sweep a victims mouth, unless you first visualize the object !! Signs of an airway obstruction..."the feel of exhaled air on your cheek?" That is a sign that a person IS breathing & has no obstruction. Use your thumb to control bleeding?! And my personal favorite...Lift the head of a person with a potential spinal injury !! . It is very important to be accurate in printing things like this, for this article could be the only first aid information some people get and if its wrong, which much of this article is, it could cause further harm to an accident victim.
I agree, after years of training from the military, i DO NOT see much right with this post. It should be REMOVED. This post will do more harm then good. For anyone who has just read this, please take PROFESIONAL CPR and First Aid classes, by reasearching this subject, it shows you want to be prepared. This information will do you no good and could possibly kill the individual your trying to help, (not to mention you loosing a few fingers)
I understand the concerns of the two previous posts, however thank you to Jinky for the attempt. I don't see articles by the other two peopple with the proper methods. I understand that some of the information is debatable, however one must realize that in life we learn, and there have been several dozen changes to the proceudres over the years. What Jinky has written was the way I was first taught the procedures in Highshcool. YES there have been changes since then and I've only been out of Highschool for about 4 years now. So again thank you to Jinky, and thank you to Judy and Mike for you input as well.I fully agree with Mike. Thanx Jinky for the attempt. I'm a medical doctor from Africa and i want to say that if most people here know half of what Jinky wrote here, they would have saved lots of RTA victims. What i like most is how simple she kept it. Even the advice of keeping calm could be the difference between life and death.
Im so glad I wasnt the only person reading this thinking... er.. what!?Its nice that you want to help people but if everyone who read this carried out your first aid imagine the damage you could be doing.And please dont sweep the mouth! What if the victim has a fit and bites your finger off (which does happen) then there would defaintly be an obstruction.What if the wounds bigger than the head of a nail..?Ergh *cries*Your hearts in the right place, youre just abit... uninformed.Go and do a first aid course! It sounds like you wanna help and with the right information you can :D-benny
thanks ..
thanks ..
so yea, alot of this article is misleading...i do suggest you take classes in first aid before attempting this, however if faced with a situation, it is important to properly asses the injuries, before attempting any first aid as alot of the time (espeically car accidents) the patient has retained some kind of spinal injury or dislocation.any cpr performed on suspected spinal injury should be performed by two people CAREFULLY rolling over the patient whilst supporting the neck. if there is only one avaiable practitioner, it is important you do not lift the chin up to perform cpr, instead place your thumb on the chin lifting it forward slowly and perform it extra carefully, as inflation of lungs in some circumstances can further injure the patient.
i am a certified first responder, trained under DoT guidelines. we specialize in car accidents. ignore what this article says completely. If you are not properly trained in caring for car accident victims (extracting/prepping) please do not do anything at the scene of a car accident besides call 911. it only causes more problems for emts/paramedics. moving someone even a millimeter if they have a back/neck injury can paralyze them or even kill them.
i agree