Roles And Responsibilities Of An Emergency First Aider

Much like the firefighters in 911 (figure 1); many people would say that a firefighter’s health is very important. Life is a precious thing and before we sit around and let controlled burnings take control, we should protect the lives of those who protect us.

Before I started the assessment I used alcohol gel to decontaminate my hand. NICE (2006) states that hand must be decontaminated before each and every episode of direct patient care. It is important to decontaminate my hand to prevent cross-infection of micro-organisms from staff to patient, for example Hospital Acquired Infection. I realised that I am going to have contact with body fluid and blood therefore I put on a pair of latex gloves and disposable plastic apron. Wandsworth Teaching Primary Care Trust May (2008) states that ‘Personal Protective Equipment is designed to protect the healthcare worker from coming into contact with potentially infectious body fluids. It may also protect the patient from the healthcare workers own microbial flora’.

I may stop the individual and show them the correct way to complete the task in a safe way, explaining what I am doing and the reason that it is done this way.

The next step is to determine the nature of the emergency, then stabilized the patient's condition, and then administer the right procedures, while en route to the hospital. Treatment for the patients depends on what level of training and certification the EMT has gone through. First responders are only certified to care for a sick or injured person. A basic EMT can give CPR, control any bleeding, treat shock victims, apply bandages, splint fractures, and administer an automatic defibrillation. EMTs are also trained to handle emotionally unstable patients and heart attack, poisoning, and burn patients. EMT-Intermediate are trained to start an IV, or use a manual defibrillator for patients that are going into cardiac arrest. EMT-Paramedic are certified to be able to perform more intensive treatments, while working in close radio contact with the doctor. (Careers In Focus: Medical Technicians 76) EMT-Paramedics are qualified to give intravenous drugs, use EKGs, put in breathing tubes, and use any modern medical technology. (Careers In Emergency Medical Services

When an emergency occurs and first aid is required it is always important for a qualified first aider to carry out any first aid required there are many reasons for this, the most important is that if a non qualified person try s to give first aid they may cause more damage or injury to the individual, it is also against policies and procedures of organisations and health and safety legislations.

First-aid – the person who takes duty of the session must be responsible of the first aid. This should always be available for the training session as well as other sessions. This can be provided to a person when they are injured during the match or training. This prevent more damage and injuries to your body. An example includes at a hockey game, one of the players gets hit, and first aid is immediately required to keep the payer in a stable condition. They would need medical help as soon as

Making sure that the fire exits are kept clear and fire prevention equipment is kept maintained.

3.2 Outline the procedures to be followed if an accident or sudden illness should occur,

Health care providers and visitors are required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and follow strict hand hygiene procedures. Contaminated rooms, surfaces, and laundry items are properly disinfected to prevent the spread of MRSA. In addition to policy and procedures, patient teaching is also helpful for preventing exposure and spread of MRSA. As aforementioned earlier, hand hygiene is key to prevent exposer or transmission of the bacteria. To properly wash your hand effectively, first scrub hands rapidly for at least 15 seconds. Next, use a disposable towel to dry them and another towel to turn off the faucet. In addition, hand sanitizer that contains 62 percent or more of alcohol may be an adequate substitute when the individual does not have access to soap and water (Mayo Clinic Staff,

This essay will examine and compare the different methods of hand washing in the perioperative environment and how hand washing influences the prevention of healthcare acquired infections (HCAIs). It will show the importance of washing hands thoroughly to remove bacteria to prevent HCAIs. It will include the differences between the surgical hand wash, the social hand wash and the use of alcohol rubs.

The first step is your perception of the situation that you are encountering at the moment of the emergence you have pulling up to. The firefighter needs to gather the information of how bad the patients are, how many ambulances will we need, and where to place the apparatus on the scene, and now where will we be taking all the patience’s. This has to be handled in minutes of pulling up to the emergency. Our

Heavy equipment may be used to free the victim All workers should go to the accident area to assist the rescue First aid should only

* Hand washing is the most important method of preventing the spread of infection by contact (Ayliffe et al 1999). The Nottingham University Trust Policy on Hand Hygiene (2009) states that there are three types of hand hygiene, the first is ‘routine hand hygiene’ which involves the use of soap and water for 15 – 20 seconds or the application of alcohol hand rub until the hand are dry. The second is ‘hand disinfection’ which should be used prior to an aseptic procedure by washing with soap and water and applying alcohol hand rub afterwards. The third is ‘surgical hand washing’ which is the application of a microbial agent to the hands and wrists for two minutes. In addition to which a sterile, disposable brush may be used for the first surgical hand wash of the day although continued use will encourage colonisation of microbes. The third example is the most appropriate to any O.D.P undertaking the surgical role as it is the best way for the surgical team to eliminate transient flora and reduce resident skin flora (World Health Organization 2010). The first and second are important to any O.D.P undertaking any other role within the Operating Department as this is the best way to reduce the transient microbial flora without necessarily affecting the resident skin flora

In some instances, COPs may find themselves in dangerous situations where there may be many casualties or situations that my demand that the medical staff needs to protect themselves as much as they need to protect their patients- the COPs. As much as evacuation is essential, there is need to provide adequate information through information sharing systems. This can be classified under their preventive role in a bid to approach the job in a proactive manner. Through this the COPs may have basic and fundamental knowledge of what to do in certain

(3) Supervise the accident area until fire, if any, is under control or until area is safe for entry by authorized personnel.