This document discusses the principles of first aid. It defines first aid as immediate care given to an injured or ill person without medical equipment, until proper treatment arrives. The key principles are to first do no harm, recognize first aid is imperfect, and prioritize the most urgent injuries. Safety is paramount during first aid. The document outlines how to assess an emergency, contact emergency services if needed, survey the scene, examine the victim, and perform essential interventions like CPR. The goal of first aid is to stabilize the person until emergency medical treatment can take over.

1. FIRST AID
Principles and Practice
K.S. Chew
Lecturer/Emergency Physician
School of Medical Sciences
Universiti Sains Malaysia

2. First aid….. it is better to know it and not
need it than to need it and not know it.

3. “Whatever can go wrong, will.”
- Murphy Law

5. “Whatever can happen to one man can
happen to every man.”
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C.? – A.D.65)

6. Definition of First Aid

7. What is First Aid?
Definition:
• First aid is the immediate care given to an
injured or suddenly ill person. First aid
does not take the place of proper medical
treatment.

8. First Aid
• Immediate care given to an injured or
suddenly ill person
–Without any proper medical equipment
–Temporary assistance until arrival of
competent medical care
–Does not take the place of proper
medical treatment

9. Who provides first aid?
• Police, Bomba/firefighters, JPA staffs
• St. John’s Ambulance members, Red
Crescent members, Scouts, Girl Guides
• Bystanders, public members
• Relatives, family members, friends
• Workmates, teachers
• Medical students, anyone ……YOU!

10. Principles of First Aid

11. Principle #1: First, do no harm
Know what to do and know what NOT to do

12. First Do No Harm
• Do no harm does not mean do nothing.
• The wisdom is not just to know what to do,
but what NOT to do
• Sometimes the best thing you can do for a
casualty is to call for help.
• Provide comfort and assurance to the
casualty may be the only thing you can do

13. First Do No Harm
• Use treatments you know of that are most
likely to benefit a casualty
• Do not use a treatment that you are not
sure about “just for the sake of trying”

17. Principle #2: First Aid Is Not An
Exact Science And Is Open To
Error

18. First Aid Is Not An Exact Science
• First aid is practiced by people from all
walks of life
• Therefore there are great variations in
terms of methods and practice
• A casualty may not respond as you hoped
no matter how good and how hard you try

19. First Aid Is Not An Exact Science
• Don’t feel bad if the casualty don’t respond
as you would like him to.
• If you have done your best, your
conscience should be clear.
• You may also have to deal with your own
fear in real life situations

21. Principle #3: First Aid is about
Putting First Things First

22. First Things First
• Get your priority right
• If there are too many injuries in a casualty,
treat the most urgent injuries first
• If there are too many casualties
– First, call for help
– Treat the ones with the highest chance of
survival

24. Don’t treat him. Forget it!

25. They are also not your priority. Keep them aside
and leave them to chat with each other!

27. • The first step to get our priority right is to
know and recognize what is an emergency
and what is not an emergency!
• Sometimes it is very difficult, e.g. heart
attack can be silent
• Hollywood emergencies don’t always exist
in real life
First Things First

29. Hollywood Heart Attack

30. Recognize An Emergency
• Factors that determine whether bystander
recognize an emergency:
• Severity: motor-vehicle crash
• Physical distance: the closer, the more
noticeable
• Relationship: knowing the victim, the more
noticeable, e.g. mother and child
• Time exposed: the longer exposed, the
more noticeable

31. Principle #4: Safety Is Of
Utmost Importance In First Aid

35. Why Some Bystander Refuse To
Help?
• Ignorance
– Hiding own fear and incompetency
• Confused about what is an emergency
– Too much Hollywood movies
• Characteristics of the emergency situation
– The blood, smell, vomitus
• Fear it may be fake
– Fear own safety; disguised as emergency

37. One important strategy that people use to
avoid action is to refuse (consciously or
unconsciously) to acknowledge the
emergency situation

38. Other Excuses
• It could be harmful
– HIV infection
• Helping doesn’t matter
– Victim is drunk
• Obstacles may prevent helping
– Drowning victim in a mining pool (bystander
doesn’t know how to swim)

39. Decide to help
If you decide to help, you must:
• Feel confident to help
• Take time to help
• Put the potential risks of helping in
perspective
• Take charge at an emergency scene
• Comfortable in seeing a victim who is
bleeding or vomiting

40. Chain of Survival

41. RECOGNITION
Is this an emergency condition?
DECIDE TO HELP
CONTACT
EMS if
needed or
if not sure
ASSESS SCENE AND VICTIM
FIRST AID
NOYES
MEDICAL CARE
ARRIVED
CHANCE OF RECOVERY
WITHOUT MEDICAL
CARE ASSURED

42. Scene Survey
• Scene safety
• Mechanism of injury
• Number of patients

43. RECOGNITION
Is this an emergency condition?
DECIDE TO HELP
CONTACT
EMS if
needed or
if not sure
ASSESS SCENE AND VICTIM
FIRST AID
NOYES
MEDICAL CARE
ARRIVED
CHANCE OF RECOVERY
WITHOUT MEDICAL
CARE ASSURED

44. Need EMS?
Call EMS if
1. The victim’s condition life threatening or
could get worse
2. The victim need the skills or equipment
of EMS
3. Distance or traffic could cause a delay in
getting to hospital
4. If you are not sure

45. What Information To Relay
• Identify yourself
• E: Exact Location
• T: Type of event
• H: Hazard
• A: Access
• N: Number of casualties involved
• E: Existing emergency services
• Put down phone only if asked to

46. History
• Symptoms
• Allergies
• Medicatios
• Past Medical History
• Last oral intake
• Events leading up to the illness or injury

47. Physical Examination
• Deformity
• Open wound
• Tenderness
• Swelling
• For extremities
• Remember to add Pulses, Movement,
Sensation (PMS)

48. Seven Essential First Aid
Interventions
1. Call for ambulance
2. DO NOT move and DO NOT allow
movement unnecessarily of a trauma
casualty
3. Perform chin lift or head tilt chin lift
4. Mouth-to-mouth breathing (if willing)
especially in children, drowning or
poisoning

49. 5. Chest compression
6. Operate an automated external
defibrillator
7. Stop any bleeding
Seven Essential First Aid
Interventions