What are the contents of basic first aid skills popularization training?

The core of the basic first aid skills popularization training for the general public is set up around the principle of "operable by the first witness, unqualified risk, and real help". There is no complicated professional operation, and it is all content that can be used immediately in daily accidents.

I have been a community first aid science lecturer for three years. What impressed me the most was what happened in the spring of this year: an old man downstairs in our community suffered a heart attack and fell to the ground while walking. Aunt Zhang, who happened to have attended the training last week, was right next to him. She immediately stepped forward to perform chest compressions and called passers-by to find the AED at the door of the community. By the time 120 arrived, the man had regained his consciousness. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation + AED operation is the top and most practiced content in all basic first aid training. We will not teach too complicated pathological knowledge, but will only repeatedly emphasize the position, depth, and frequency of compression. There is no need to remember the steps for AED. Just turn it on and follow the voice prompts to operate it. Even the elderly with poor memory can learn it after practicing it two or three times.

In addition to this kind of emergency treatment that is directly life-threatening, daily high-frequency small accident response also accounts for a high proportion of training. For example, people always ask whether you should shower with cold water or apply toothpaste when you are burned. During our training, we will clearly explain that for first-degree and shallow second-degree mild burns with only redness, swelling and small blisters, running cold water for 15 to 20 minutes is currently clinically recognized as the most effective way to cool down and relieve pain, and applying toothpaste Applying soy sauce can easily block pores and induce wound infection. However, if it is a severe burn with large-scale ulceration and skin peeling, do not shower with cold water on your own. Cover the wound with clean sterile gauze and send it to the doctor as soon as possible. There is no absolutely correct way to deal with it. It all depends on the specific injury.

What many people don’t know is that nearly one-third of our training is about teaching people “what not to do.” The last time I did a scenario simulation, I arranged for volunteers to play the role of injured people with suspected cervical spine injuries after a car accident. Seven of the more than ten trainees immediately wanted to help the person up, but we stopped them all in time - if the injured person really had a cervical spine fracture, casual movement would likely compress the nerves and cause lifelong paralysis. Also, if you encounter someone getting an electric shock, you must not pull the person out with your bare hands. You should pull the switch first, or use dry wooden or plastic sticks to separate the wires. These common sense of avoiding pits are sometimes more important than being able to perform first aid operations.

Another aspect that is easily overlooked is how to dial 120 correctly. Don’t think this is simple. When an accident happens, many people are so panicked that they can’t even tell where they are. We practice it repeatedly in every training: when dialing the phone, first report the accurate address, accurate to the house number or nearby obvious landmarks, and then mention the status of the injured, whether he is conscious, bleeding, and whether he has any underlying diseases. Finally, leave your mobile phone number and wait until the dispatcher has asked all the questions before hanging up the phone. Last month, a junior high school student who participated in our training met a classmate who broke his bone after falling while playing basketball. When he called 120, he made it clear that the ambulance arrived nearly 8 minutes faster than usual.

Regarding the training content, there is actually no completely unified standard in the industry. Some people think that training ordinary people does not need to teach bandaging and fracture fixation. They will have to be sent to the hospital anyway, and it is easy to make mistakes if they learn it. Some people think that there is no harm in learning more. Our usual practice is to teach the most basic methods of bandaging and temporary fixation of fractures, but we will also repeatedly emphasize that if you are not sure, don't do it rashly, give priority to stopping bleeding and dial 120. We will also adjust the content according to different audiences. When training parents, we will talk more about the Heimlich maneuver of children with febrile convulsions and foreign bodies stuck in the throat, and when training delivery people and couriers, we will add more about the treatment of cycling injuries. All adjustments are made as needed.

I have been doing science popularization for so long, but I have never expected students to remember all the operations exactly. As long as everyone does not panic when encountering problems, knows what can and cannot be done, and does not do any harm, then the purpose of this training will be achieved.