Active IQ Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (sample manual)

Manual
Level 3 Award in
Emergency First Aid
at Work
Version AIQ005247

Emergency first aid in
the workplace
Introduction
First aid is the initial emergency assistance or treatment given to a casualty for any injury or sudden illness before
the arrival of an ambulance, doctor or other qualified personnel.
This unit covers the knowledge, understanding and skills that you will need to be able to apply emergency first aid
that meets Health and Safety Executive (HSE) requirements.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this unit you will:
Understand the roles and responsibilities of an emergency first aider.
Be able to assess an incident.
Be able to manage an unresponsive casualty who is breathing normally.
Be able to manage an unresponsive casualty who is not breathing normally.
Be able to recognise and assist a casualty who is choking.
Be able to manage a casualty with external bleeding.
Be able to manage a casualty who is in shock.
Be able to manage a casualty with a minor injury.
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Section 1
First aid practicalities
It is important to identify:
• Who you are: Start with your name and explain that you are a trained first aider.
• Why you are with them: They are likely to know they have an injury or illness (but you can’t always presume
this in the case of patients in emotional shock, children or those with learning difficulties) but you must
explain to them that you would like to help them.
• What you are going to do: Some first aid procedures can be uncomfortable, so it is important to be honest
with the patient about what you are doing.
There are some cases in which the first aider may have to exercise a level of judgement in treating a casualty who
may initially refuse, for example, when the victim is intoxicated, irrational, a minor (in which case, a parent or carer
must give consent if present and able) or suffering from learning difficulties.
Even when the victim is refusing treatment the first aider must make a decision and make a note of the course of
action taken, the reasons for doing so and why the person was deemed unfit to refuse treatment. It is advisable to
summon professional medical assistance if you believe the victim should be treated and is refusing.
Recording treatment
After administering any treatment, the first aider must complete an incident report form. However, any personal
information gathered while treating an injured person should be considered strictly confidential as it is covered by
the Data Protection Act (1998).
• Details a first aider may need to collect include:
• The name and contact details of the injured person (if considered relevant, any witnesses should also be
included).
• The location, time and date of the incident.
• The type of accident and severity of the injury.
• Details of first aid provided.
• Details of any advice given.
First aid kits and
equipment
All work areas will have a first aid kit located in a
prominent position and clearly signposted. It is the
first aider’s responsibility to ensure that first aid
kits in their area are kept clean, tidy and stocked;
they should therefore check the contents regularly
(preferably each month).
• There is no mandatory list of items to put in a first aid box, but the HSE recommends, as a minimum:
• A leaflet giving general guidance on first aid (e.g. HSE leaflet).
• An assortment of 20 individually wrapped, sterile plasters (in different sizes) that are appropriate for the type
of work carried out (you can provide hypoallergenic plasters, if necessary).
• Two sterile eye pads.
• Four individually wrapped triangular bandages ‒ preferably sterile.
• Six safety pins.
• Two large, individually wrapped, sterile unmedicated wound dressings.
• Six medium-sized, individually wrapped, sterile unmedicated wound dressings.
• A pair of disposable gloves .
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Section 2
Assessing an incident
Response - primary survey
The purpose of a primary survey is to identify life-threatening injuries. The first step is to assess whether the casualty
Airway
With an obstructed airway, the casualty will not survive. Therefore, ensuring a
clear airway is a priority. The airway can be opened using a head tilt ‒ chin lift
(as shown in the picture) or jaw thrust (by moving the lower jaw forwards with
minimal movement of the neck, if cervical trauma is suspected). If the airway is
blocked (e.g. by blood or vomit) this must be cleared.
Breathing
Best practices for checking this include observing for a rise and fall of the
patient’s chest or abdomen, looking for chest movement, listening for sounds
of breathing and feeling for breath on your cheek. Check for ten seconds and
multiply the total by six. Normal range is 12-20 breaths per minute.
Circulation
This is checking for a pulse and can be done on the wrist or the side of the
neck. As with breathing checks, measure for ten seconds and multiply the total
number by six. Normal range is 60-100 beats per minute (bpm).
Unresponsive
If there is no response, the first aider should immediately ask for someone to
call for an ambulance or, if they are alone, use the speaker function on their
phone and call 112. The first aider should be prepared to start cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR) while waiting for help to arrive.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
The main purpose of CPR is to restore partial flow of oxygenated
blood to the brain and heart to hopefully delay tissue death and
extend the brief window of opportunity for a successful resuscitation
without permanent brain damage. It is extremely unlikely to restart
the heart, therefore CPR should only be commenced once the
emergency services have been alerted.
If breathing is absent, the first aider should follow the procedure for
CPR (explained on the next page), either with or without assistance.
If the first aider has assistance, they should instruct their helper to
notify the emergency services and give full details. If no assistance
is available, the first aider should make the call themselves even if it
entails leaving the casualty unattended.
Without oxygen, the brain cells will start to die within a few minutes.
By using a combination of chest compressions and rescue breaths,
CPR artificially breathes and pumps oxygen around the body.
When this pressure is released, the heart returns to its normal shape
and blood is drawn in, ready to be expelled by the next compression .
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Section 2
Assessing an incident
Adult basic life support algorithm
Unresponsive?
Ask someone to call for
an ambulance
Not breathing normally?
Call 999/112
30 chect compressions
2 rescue breaths
Use of an AED - chain of survival
An unresponsive casualty stands a greater chance of survival if a series of events can happen quickly and without
delay.
This series of events is known as the ‘chain of survival’:
• Early help by calling the emergency services.
• Early CPR.
• Early defibrillation.
• Early after care when the emergency services take over.
If these elements are delayed or missing, the casualty’s chance of survival declines.
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Section 3
Common medical emergencies
Treatment for choking
Encourage the victim to cough. If coughing proves impossible or is ineffective at removing the obstruction, the Red
Cross recommends a ‘five-and-five’ approach to delivering first aid:
1. Give up to five back blows between the shoulder
blades with the heel of the hand .
2. After each one, check the mouth quickly and, if there
is still a blockage, remove any obvious obstruction.
3. While standing behind the casualty, place a
clenched fist between the navel and the bottom of
the breastbone and give up to five abdominal thrusts
(i.e. pull inwards and upwards).
4. Again, check the mouth quickly after each one.
5. If the obstruction does not clear after three cycles of
back blows and abdominal thrusts, dial 999/112 for
an ambulance.
6. Continue cycles of back blows and abdominal thrusts
until help arrives and resuscitate if necessary.
N.B. It is strongly recommended for anyone who has received abdominal thrusts to seek a medical examination,
even if they appear to fully recover, because of the possible internal trauma that abdominal thrusts may inflict.
Adult choking treatment algorithm
Assess severity
Severe
Airway obstruction (ineffective cough).
Mild
Airway obstruction
Unresponsive
Start CPR
Responsive
5 back blows.
5 abdominal
thrusts
Encourage coughing
Continue to check for deterioration to
ineffective cough or until obstruction is
relieved
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Section 3
Common medical emergencies
Types of external bleeding
External bleeding describes any type of cut or scrape where blood is coming from an open wound.
There are three types of external bleeding: capillary, venous and arterial bleeding.
Capillary bleeding is the most common type of external bleeding; it occurs when blood oozes from capillaries. It is
usually not serious and is easy to control.
Venous bleeding occurs when a vein has been severed. Arterial bleeding can lead to a large amount of blood loss,
as the blood pumps from the wound with the heartbeat, meaning it flows at a faster rate and is less likely to clot. A
quick response and administration of proper first aid before medical assistance arrives will help to prevent the injury
from becoming fatal.
Severe bleeding
If left untreated, severe blood loss will rapidly lead to shock, therefore
it should be stemmed as soon as possible (after ensuring that the
casualty is breathing). When treating severe bleeding, you must:
1. Put on disposable gloves.
2. Apply direct pressure over the wound with your hand, using a
clean dressing. If you don’t have a dressing, ask the casualty
to apply pressure themselves.
3. Take particular care if you suspect a bone has been broken. Wearing disposable gloves to dress a wound
4. Maintain direct pressure on the wound to control bleeding.
5. If direct pressure is unsuccessful, use a tourniquet to stem the
bleeding.
6. If needed, help them to lie down.
7. Raise and support the injured limb above the level of their
heart to reduce blood loss.
8. Raise their legs to ease shock.
9. Call 999/112 and monitor them while waiting for help to arrive.
KEY
POINT
Applying a bandage
Remember:
• To protect yourself from infection by wearing disposable gloves and covering any wounds on your
hands.
• Not to remove the dressing if blood comes through it – instead, bandage another over the original.
• To remove both dressings if blood seeps through more than one layer and replace them with a
fresh dressing, applying pressure over the site of bleeding.
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