First Aid is Not Just Important but Also Crucial to Saving Lives

Knowing what to do in an emergency situation can be the difference between a patients survival or death and long term injury or full recovery. Knowing what to do, or at the very least, what definitely not to do can make all the difference to the outcome of the situation.

A recent news article regarding a road accident in the Barnet and Potters Bar area, highlighted yet again, the unfortunate realities of the dangers imposed by unknowledgeable and untrained people willing to help in emergency situations.

In this particular instance, a car mounted a kerb and crashed into a garden wall also colliding with a group of three pedestrians. Fortunately for the injured pedestrians, the accident occurred just outside the house of an off duty accident and emergency nurse who was able to assist at the scene. Mrs Bassil who has been practicing as a nurse for almost 30 years said “I saw the car in the wall and various people lying around.” She also revealed how the outcome of one of the pedestrians injuries could have been made much worse and how close the 17 year old victim came to potentially suffering a long term injury or life long disability.

Nurse Bassil stated that it was quite apparent that the boy had had broken his leg and had sustained head injuries and then went on to add “There was a gentleman there who said he would try to move him and get him up, I had to scream in his face to leave him”. This is exactly the type of misguided willingness to help that can cause serious problems and can do far more harm than good. Indeed, if Mrs Bassil hadn't been there and the gentleman had got the young victim up onto his feet, it could have been severely detrimental to his outcome.

Knowing how to react and how to treat injuries can play a vital role in preventing an injury or illness becoming more serious. Having common sense at least, or at best, knowledge of first aid is obviously the primary requirement when reacting to emergency situations. Having access to the correct first aid kit and components is the next most important thing. First aid kits contain various product mixes and those utilising its contents, need to understand the uses of the various components.

Sources:

times-series.co.uk/news/4169510.Road_crash_nurse_modest_over_first_aid_role/

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