Part IV. First aid in emergency situations Key words and terms:

Injury Burn Fracture Artificial respiration Cardiac massage Concussion Dislocated Sprained wrist Blister Carotid artery

Treatment Breathing Bleeding Resuscitation Bruise Electric shock Poison Swollen ankle Choking Dilate

Text 19. First Aid

Correct first aid treatment, if it is given properly and promptly, can save lives. Of course, if the situation is serious, the first thing to do is to seek medical attention.

How good is your knowledge of first aid?

When an accident happens, the people present are much more likely to be people of general public and not members of the medical profession. How good are we at giving first aid? Can we say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing? If we're not sure what to do, is it actually best not to do anything at all?

First aid is very important and you can save lives if the right action is taken. Ninety per cent of first aid is common sense, and only ten per cent is specialist knowledge. If someone isn't breathing, you must give them artificial respiration, and probably most people know how to do that. If the person is bleeding, the bleeding must be stopped. These things are obvious. Medical help must of course be sought and someone must decide whether the victim can be taken to hospital, or whether, given the nature of their particular accident, the victim should be left alone.

There are two particular kinds of accidents where generally we get it wrong, we follow our common sense but it lets us down. Road accidents are one of those which happen most often. There are three things that we must keep in mind. First of all you should check that the victims are breathing. If they're not, give artificial respiration. The most common injuries in car accidents in fact are fractures and bleeding, so the second thing to do is stop the bleeding. Thirdly, it is very important: don't move the victim unless it's absolutely necessary. If any bones are broken, the injury could be made much worse by moving the victim. You should keep them warm, loosen any tight clothing, and try to reassure them.

They'll probably be suffering from shock, so just stay with them until expert help arrives. It's a very good thing to do.

Also it is necessary to know what to do on the subject of burns. For example, some people put cream or grease or butter on, and this in fact makes the burn hotter. You need to decide first of all how bad it is. If it is a minor burn, the best thing to do is put the burn area under the cold tap, or slowly pour on iced water. This should be done for about ten minutes, and it stops the heat from spreading. However, if it's a bad burn, what we call a third-degree burn, don't touch it, you really should get for this kind of burn expert help immediately. Cover the burn very lightly with something clean like a sheet or a handkerchief and then go straight to a hospital,

The other thing people do is to give drinks, especially alcoholic drinks, which means that if the patient needs an operation, doctors can't give an anesthetic. If the patient complains of thirst, he should wash his mouth with water and not swallow.

There are a lot of accidents to be talked about. It's worth while for general public to find out about them, and find out how they can help. It would be advisable for people to find out as much as they possibly can. Many of us freeze and panic when faced with a crisis. So, why not learn about basic first aid?

Exercise 1. Here is a list of injuries. Look them up in your dictionary to check the meaning and the pronunciation, and fill in the chart. Use your imagination to think of a cause for the injuries.

Injury	Cause	Treatment
a broken arm	a fall during a football match	set the arm and put it in plaster
a bruise
a dislocated shoulder
a sprained wrist
a sting
cramp
a swollen ankle
concussion
a blister
a black eye
a burn

Exercise 2. What would you do in these circumstances? Choose the correct answer.

1) Someone has a minor burn; should you:

a) put cold water on the burnt area?

b) put a tight bandage on it?

c) put butter on it?

2) Someone has a bad burn; should you:

a) put cold water on the burned area?

b) put a tight bandage on it?

c) put a loose, clean covering on?

3) You are the first to arrive at the scene of a car accident; should you:

a) lie the victims flat and keep them warm?

b) avoid moving the victims and keep them warm?

Exercise 3. Look for the information in order to answer the following questions. You will find some of it in the texts given below.

1) Do you know how to

- give artificial respiration? - stop bleeding?

2) What would you do if someone

- is choking?

- has an electric shock?

- has swallowed some kind of poison?