As a first aider, your main responsibility is the safety of casualties. You will have to manage and direct their actions, as well as provide protection for their health and safety. It is important to remember that accidents and illness can happen at any time. Provision for first aid needs to be available at all times when people are at risk. If you are a trained first aider and you think someone needs your help, there are many responsibilities that you should adhere to.
- Rapidly and calmly assess the situation for danger to yourself, bystanders and the casualty. Quickly try to understand, what happened and how many people are affected and their general overall condition.
- Take permission. You should introduce yourself to the casualty or bystanders and ask them what happened and why. You should take the charge immediately after taking permission.
- Reassure and control the situation by declaring you are a qualified first aider and able to manage the situation until medical team is available. Explain what you are going to do before giving first aid.
- Ensure the continuing safety of yourself, bystanders and the casualty from further danger. Call for local Emergency Medical Service immediately.
- Prevent infection between you and them. You should wash your hands thoroughly with soap before and after use or use hand sanitizer, Use of appropriate PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), and not cough or sneeze over a casualty.
- Assess the response of each casualty. If there is more than one casualty, treat the unconscious with life-threatening injuries or conditions patient first.
- Decide to Act. Bystanders need to get involved in emergency situations and many lives have been saved because people like you have been involved.
- Provide first aid. If there is any unconscious casualty who is not breathing, you should start CPR immediately. Provision of adequate and appropriate first aid to the victim depending upon the circumstances and nature of event.
- Arrange for further medical help. Call for an ambulance or emergency care if it is serious, or send the casualty to a nearest hospital if it is serious but unlikely to get any worse. For less serious conditions, suggest they see a doctor if they are concerned or if the condition worsens. You should always stay with the patient until you can leave the patient in the right arrangement.
- Make a Report. Fill out any paperwork as medical report and handover for further medical help.
Being a first-aider is a great challenge to fulfill all aforesaid responsibilities and it is your duty to take charge when someone is injured. Not only must you attend to the injured person, but you must arrange other appropriate medical help.
The first-aider will be responsible for dealing with injured and ill person in often difficult situations. Therefore, the right decision must be made during the initial treatment. The wrong decision can have serious consequences for the first-aider and casualties. So, first-aider needs to acquire the necessary training, skills and qualities to fulfill their roles and responsibilities.