First aid for road traffic accidents

First aid in an accident is eyewitnesses of what happened, which can be both drivers and passengers, and pedestrians. The life of the victim depends on the quick, well-coordinated and, most importantly, the correct actions of the witnesses to the accident.

After a car accident, the driver and eyewitnesses of the tragedy need to perform a number of important actions:

• Stop the movement of the car, get out of it;
• Ensure your own safety;
• Mark the place of the accident with signs indicating an emergency stop, or turn on the alarm;
• Call an ambulance crew;
• Provide first aid to road accident victims;
• Find out the personal data of eyewitnesses, record them and call the police.

At the time of the call of the doctors, it is necessary to clearly and consistently provide the dispatcher with the necessary information:

• Accident location with accurate data and the most convenient routes;
• The number of victims, their approximate age, the alleged type of injury;
• Your personal data (name and mobile phone number for communication);
• If necessary, ask witnesses to meet an ambulance if access to the scene is difficult to find.

The call of rescuers is also necessary if it is not possible to extract the victims of the accident from the car.

Step by step instructions

In the event that people are conscious, their movements are not limited, you need to help them get out of the vehicle.

If people are unconscious, they must be taken out of the car very carefully. It is advisable that 2-3 people provide assistance. One eyewitness should take the victim under the armpits, and the second by the legs.

The following victim assistance activities are provided in this order:

1. The injured person is taken (taken) to a safe place.
2. If there is consciousness, they conduct a survey and assess the general condition, the presence of injuries and injuries.
3. In a victim who is in an unconscious state, the functioning of vital systems: pulse, respiration and heartbeat is urgently checked. In case of their absence, resuscitation is carried out before the arrival of professionals.
4. After resuscitation, they carefully examine the person, determine all visible damage.
5. If possible, provide the victim with painkillers.
6. For fractures, immobilization of the limbs is performed.
7. Apply a tourniquet or tight bandage with severe arterial bleeding.
8. Perform actions to prevent the spread of infection in the body by applying antiseptic bandages and dressings.
9. Provide a person with the most comfortable and correct position, based on the severity and location of the injury.
10. After the arrival, professional doctors inform them of all the actions taken.

The main goal at the time of first aid in road accidents is to eliminate factors that pose a threat to human life.

These include deadly signs:

• Severe external bleeding;
• Unconsciousness;
• Lack of functioning of cardiac activity, respiratory organs;
• Traumatic shock.

Resuscitation action

Before deciding on resuscitation, you need to make sure that the victim has no signs of life. Urgent resuscitation care is required if a person has one of the following factors missing:

• Consciousness;
• Clear and regular breathing;
• Pulse on the carotid artery;
• Reactions of pupils to light.

To check the reaction of the pupils, you need to gently push the eyelid of a person, put a palm on him. If after the palm is removed, the pupils do not narrow, this indicates a critical condition of a person.

Nevertheless, the provision of first aid should be carried out as long as there is at least the slightest hope of saving a person.

The resuscitation process involves two successive stages:

• Airway clearance;
• Performing artificial respiration in combination with indirect heart massage.

The implementation of the first action is extremely important, since cleaning the upper respiratory tract will allow a person to start breathing independently. This action will help to carry out artificial respiration.

First aid for cleaning the respiratory tract is performed in the following order:

• The victim is placed on his back;
• His head is thrown back;
• The lower jaw of the patient is advanced;
• A finger on which a bandage or gauze is wound is used to clean the oral cavity in circular motions.

Artificial respiration is necessary to restore lung function by supplying oxygen to them. Perform this technique until the patient begins to breathe on his own or medical workers arrive.

Heart massage performed using the technique of indirect exposure, allows you to provide organs and tissues with the right amount of blood supply. Rescue operations are carried out until a clear ripple or the arrival of professionals.

After the victim’s signs of life have clearly begun to be traced (weak breathing and pulsation on the carotid artery have appeared), a rehabilitation measure is carried out, which consists in ensuring the person’s position on his side.

If the patient has breathing and a pulse is felt, but he is in an unconscious state, help is provided in this order:

• Cleans the airways;
• Give a person a pose of “recovery”;
• Regularly record the pulse and respiration;

If necessary, resuscitation actions begin immediately.