Key Takeaways:
– Learning the signs and symptoms associated with:
– Shock
– Head or spinal injuries
– Acute poisonings
– Environmental emergencies including snakebites, heat, and cold stress
– Medical emergencies including asthma, anaphylaxis, and seizures
– Observing the correct actions needed when providing first aid:
– During an initial response to an accident or first aid situation
– In electrical accident situations
– In situations involving potential or actual head injuries, shock, bleeding, spinal injuries, fractures, burns, medical emergencies, environmental emergencies, and poisoning accidents.

Course Description
High-risk environments can be especially dangerous to work in if employees fail to follow safety rules and procedures. Although, no matter how safely we work, accidents happen and people are injured.

Luckily, it is proven that knowing how to respond appropriately when an injury happens, basic first aid, can be all the difference between life and death.

OSHA has eight standards referencing first aid requirements for General Industry (found in 29 CFR 1910.151), in addition to issued guidelines to help identify the essential elements of a basic first aid program.

When is first aid typically needed? Well, it is needed in any scenario requiring immediate medical attention, such as when someone is bleeding, has internal bleeding, is in shock, is severely burned, has been electrocuted, sustained a head injury, has an unexpected dental injury, has a spinal injury, has fractured something, is experiencing heat exhaustion or fighting hypothermia, or has been snake bitten, has been poisoned, is drowning, or having a seizure.

Here are some examples of medical scenarios where basic first aid can improve outcomes:
– Usually, bleeding is associated with wounds and injuries caused by the cutting, puncture, or tearing of the skin. Drastic wounds can damage arteries and cause bright red blood to spurt out with each heartbeat. Conversely, damage to veins results in a darker red bleeding. Lastly, capillary damage is associated with wounds close to the skin, known for the bright red ‘ooze’ up from below the surface.
– There can also be internal bleeding with accidents. The normal indicators of internal bleeding are bruising and swelling.
– Shock happens when the circulatory system fails to deliver blood to all parts of the body. Anytime the body’s organs do not receive blood, they stop. After serious trauma, the body may be able to continue providing adequate blood flow; however, shock will happen if it can’t meet the demands for supplying blood to all parts of the body.
– What’s the difference between burns and scalds? Burns happen after contact with a flame, hot objects, chemicals, electricity, radiated heat, or frozen surfaces. On the other hand, scalds are caused only by heat, through contact with boiling fluids or steam. Both injuries damage the skin and possibly the deeper, underlying body tissue, with evidence of severe pain.
– If not treated properly, head and spinal injuries can be serious or even deadly. Such injuries are incredibly delicate situations; any injury to the nervous system can affect normal function of breathing, movement, and sensation. Depending on the location of the injury, the separation or lesion of the spinal cord can cause a loss of limb function, like paraplegia, or chronic painful conditions.
– Fractures can come from many types of accidents and injuries. Common fracture-inducing injuries include falls, being struck by or against objects, or by using your arms to brace in a fall or accident.
– Every toxic material is poisonous to human beings, to some extent. First aid for suspected poisoning cases is different in industry than it is for the general public or in the home. Luckily, there are safety and health regulations for both governmental agencies and private industry which prescribe plans, safeguards, training, and emergency response procedures.
– There are additional situations in outdoor environments where first aid might be required. Typically, environmental emergencies result from extreme weather conditions resulting in heat or cold illnesses. Both heat exhaustion and heat stroke are conditions caused by overexposure to heat, if that wasn’t clear from their names. Of course, critcal injuries can result from overexposure to extremely cold temperatures, too. The two cold stress emergencies which should worry you the most are hypothermia and frostbite. Both emergencies have symptoms that are frequently not recognized by victims and are relatively easy to contract.

Here is some advice from the Red Cross:
“Investing in first-aid training and education not only saves lives, but is also cost effective. First-aid reduces the severity of injuries and at the same time the high cost of medical treatment and the long term consequences for severely injured people.”

“The first minutes after a serious injury are a crucial window of time during which potentially life-saving measures can be initiated.”