PREPARING TO RESPOND TO AN EMERGENCY 

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Prevention as a strategy in reducing fatalities, illnesses and injuries: 
• Interacting with the internal or external EMS system. 
• Good Samaritan legislation, consent, abandonment, negligence, State laws and regulations.
• Understanding the effects of stress, fear of infection, panic; how they interfere with performance and barriers to action. 
• Learning the importance of universal precautions and body substance isolation to provide protection from blood-borne pathogens and other potentially infectious materials. Learning about personal protective equipment - gloves, eye protection, masks, and respiratory barrier devices. Appropriate management and disposal of blood-contaminated sharps and surfaces and awareness of OSHA's blood-borne pathogens standards.
ASSESSING THE SCENE AND THE VICTIM(S) 

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PROTECT YOURSELF FIRST BY:
• Assessing the scene for safety, number of injured, and nature of the event.
• Assessing the toxicity of the environment and the need for respiratory protection. 
• Establishing the presence of a confined space and the need for respiratory protection and specialised training to perform a rescue (see our advanced first aid program).
• Prioritising care when there are several injured.
• Assessing each victim for responsiveness, airway patency, breathing, circulation, and medical alert tags. 
• Taking a victim's history at the scene, including determining the mechanism of injury.
• Performing a logical head-to-toe check for injuries. 
• Emphasising early activation of EMS. 
• Indications for and methods of safely moving and rescuing victims. 
• Repositioning the ill/injured victims to prevent further injury.

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RESPONDING TO LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCIES:
• Establishing responsiveness. 
• Establishing and maintaining an open and clear airway. 
• Performing rescue breathing. 
• Treating airway obstruction in a conscious victim. 
• Performing CPR.
• Using an AED
• Recognising the signs and symptoms of shock and providing first aid for shock due to illness or injury.
• Assessing and treating a victim who has an unexplained change in level of consciousness or sudden illness. 
• Controlling bleeding with direct pressure.

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POISONING:
• Ingested poisons: alkali, acid, and systemic poisons.
• Inhaled poisons: carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide, smoke and other chemical fumes vapors, and gases. Assessing the toxicity of the environment and the need for respirator

• Knowledge of inhalation or ingestion. 
• Effects of alcohol and illicit drugs on the physiologic and behavioral effects of these substances.
• Recognising asphyxiation and the danger of entering a confined space without appropriate
respiratory protection. (Additional training is required.) 

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RESPONDING TO MEDICAL EMERGENCIES SUCH AS: 
• Chest pain. 
• Stroke 
• Breathing problems 
• Anaphylactic reactions 
• Hypoglycemia in diabetics taking insulin 
• Seizure
• Pregnancy complication 
• Abdominal injury 
• Reduced level of consciousness 
• Impaled object
 
RESPONDING TO NON-LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCIES:  

• Assessment and first aid for wounds including abrasions, cuts, lacerations, punctures, avulsions, amputations and crush injuries.

• Principles of wound care, including infection precautions. 
• Principles of body substance isolation, universal precautions and use of personal protective equipment. 

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BURNS:
• Assessing the severity of a burn.
• Recognising whether or not a chemical is a thermal, electrical, or chemical. 
• Reviewing corrosive chemicals at a specific worksite, along with appropriate first aid. 
• Temperature Extremes
• Musculoskeletal Injuries
• Eye injuries
• Mouth and Teeth Injuries
• Bites and Stings

EVALUATION: LIVE PRACTICE on site:
Trainees will demonstrate their ability to handle an accident scenario in live context on site or
in an office as per their usual work place