Monthly Meetings

One of the Board members suggested a First Aid training session as an idea for a ZIWA meeting and our enterprising Monthly Meetings chairlady Francesca Wels was able to arrange the logistics.

The Thalwil Samaritans organisation ran the session for us at a local school on a recent Sunday afternoon, and it was well worth the experience. Only fifteen people took advantage of the valuable opportunity, which was a shame as we all came away feeling competent to cope in an emergency.

Christian Keeling and his team gave up their Sunday afternoon to tell us about their work, pass on some important messages and set up demonstrations on dummies and on live 'victims'. The Samaritans group provides a local First Aid service as the second line of support to the professional paramedics after calling the emergency number 144, and are on duty at local events such as the Iron Man. They are all volunteers who train regularly, and giving training and publicity sessions like this one is part of their important role. The session consisted of an introduction to the terminology, a practical hands-on session of dealing with various first aid situations and giving CPR to dummies, a demonstration of the use of a defibrillator and finally a circuit of seven emergency simulations which we might have to deal with.

The most important message was summed up by the 'traffic light code':
Red  -  Observe  -  Take a moment to assess the situation
Yellow  -  Reflect  -  Picture the risk for the casualty, oneself and bystanders
Green  -  Act  -  Remove danger, administer first aid, ring the emergency services.

Important telephone numbers that everyone should know:
144  First Aid and ambulance call-out service. Someone there should speak English
118   Fire, explosion or danger
117   Police, in the event of a traffic accident or crime
145   Poison control centre, gives advice by telephone
1414  REGA, the mountain rescue helicopter service

What information should you give when you call the emergency services?

Where  -  The exact location, eg. address or nearest motorway exit
Who  -  Your name and phone number
What  -  Type and gravity of emergency
When  -  Time the incident happened
How many  -  Number and condition of victims
Hazards  -  Such as gas or toxic substances.

If you call for an ambulance, send someone to act as a lookout.

What to do in case of an accident or incident?
Remember the ABCD code:
A    Airway  -  Is the nose or mouth blocked?
B    Breathing  -  Give two rescue breaths through the mouth or nose
C    Circulation  -  Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation. Give 30 heart compressions, then repeat the two breaths and 30 compressions
D    Defibrillation  -  An experienced operator can use a defibrillator once only to attempt to restart the heart. The machine gives directions.


These are some of the situations which we practised dealing with:

Bleeding wounds   Use gloves if available, apply a pressure pad, use a cloth to tie up the wound, call or visit a doctor.

Sprained ankle or wrist   Remove the shoe in case of swelling, bandage the foot and ankle firmly with a stretchy bandage. Rest. Remember RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation).

Burns   Run the burnt area under a cold tap for at least 10 minutes. Don't apply gauze or cotton wool. Go with the patient to hospital or doctor's surgery.

Fall from a height   There could be a spinal injury. Stabilise the head by holding in place. Talk to the patient. If they have severe pain, can't feel their legs or experience a feeling of ants running up and down, call 144. Put into recovery position using two people. Stop traffic if necessary, do not move the patient.

Amputated finger   Use gloves, apply pressure, put the finger in a plastic bag and surround the bag with ice. Call 144 or take the patient to nearest emergency hospital.

Suspected drugs overdose   Remove the danger, cover with a rug and call an ambulance.

Choking   In an adult, use the Heimlich manoeuvre: stand behind the patient, put clasped hands around them, give sharp inward thrusts under the ribs to try and remove the object. In case of a small child, put them over your knee and slap their back.

Unconsciousness   Check for danger, kneel and talk to the patient. If no reaction, get someone to call 144, check the airway by opening buttons at the neck and look in the mouth. If the patient is breathing, put them into the recovery position, checking for hard objects in pockets. Remove glasses, put the underneath arm out to the side, fold the top arm, turn the patient onto the side, and check position of the legs. Check if still breathing and reassure the patient.

CPR if the patient is not breathing, administer CPR   Check the situation is safe, get someone to call 144, then give two rescue breaths to mouth or nose, followed by 30 firm, regular heart compressions. Repeat until help arrives.

Recognising cardiac arrest:
Persistent pain in centre of chest
Pain spreading into arm or tummy
Pain does not ease in rest
Ashen skin, blue lips, gasping for air.

In the case of suspected heart attack, call the emergency services.   Put the patient into a sitting position, loosen tight clothing, allow fresh air to circulate, ask if they are taking heart medication and if so, they should take one. Aspirin can help. If the patient loses consciousness, lie them down and administer CPR.

Recognising a stroke (a blood clot in the brain):
Loss of power or movement in limbs
Visual disorder
Speech/swallowing problems
Dizziness
Severe headache.

What to do in case of stroke   Call the emergency services. Sit the patient up. Keep them awake and talk to them. Act FAST:
Face  -  the face is frozen on one side
Arms  -  they can't raise their arms
Speech  -  their speech is slurred. Ask them to repeat something.
Time  -  is of the essence. Call for an ambulance.


Thanks very much to the Thalwil Samaritans for giving us these valuable lessons. Who knows when they might come in handy?

You can learn more, make a donation or become a volunteer at this link:
http://www.samariter-thalwil.ch/

© Copyright 2010 ZIWA All rights reserved