You never know what situation you will find yourself in a couple of hours. When will you need certain skills? But as you know, it is better to know than not. This also applies to first aid for drowning and asphyxiation. Emergencies happen all the time, so armed with knowledge, someday you can save someone's life.
Choking: classification
Breathing is a natural process during which the human body is saturated with oxygen. And strangulation is its cessation, which can lead to death. Since the body due to oxygen starvation ceases to function properly.
There are several types of strangulation:
- From squeezing: hanging, compression of the chest and abdomen.
- From the closure of the respiratory tract with foreign objects - the ingestion of any loose substances, drowning.
- In a confined space.
First aid for asphyxiation
Performing actions to save a person from this type of asphyxia is not difficult. First aid for suffocation is extremely important. Largely on whether it will be performed correctly, a person’s life depends. The provision of first aid for asphyxiation does not require a medical education. The main thing is to know the procedure.
Choking First Aid Algorithm:
- Find out the reason and try to eliminate it.
- To free the chest from clothing and anything that may interfere with free breathing. That is, try to completely expose the chest to the victim.
- Make artificial respiration. It should be performed if the person is in an unconscious state and (or) cannot take breaths and exhale independently.
The sequence of actions with artificial respiration:
- After wrapping a napkin on your fingers, release the oral cavity from foreign bodies.
- Kneel down, approach the victim’s mouth.
- Move the tongue and hold it so that it does not fall over.
- Cover the victim’s lips with a napkin.
- Put one hand on the forehead, the other on the chin.
- Take a deep breath. Hold the breath.
- Pinch your nose with your hand. Exhale through a napkin to the lips.
- Step back and remove the hand from the nose, allowing the victim to exhale artificially.
- Per minute, the number of breaths should be about 15.
- After restoring breathing, cover the person with a blanket. Do not leave and constantly monitor him until the arrival of doctors.
Drowning: classification
Most often we hear about this type of asphyxia in the summer, during the bathing season. Many are not able to adequately calculate their capabilities and, as a result, are ruining their lives.
Drowning is a type of asphyxia, performed mechanically by the ingress of fluid into the respiratory tract of a person. Roughly speaking, after the penetration of water into the lungs, it is not possible to receive oxygen, as a result of this, cardiac arrest and death occur.
There are two types of drowning :
- Blue type. A variant when fluid enters the lungs.
- Pale type. An option where fluid does not enter the lungs.
First aid for drowning
Most often we observe a blue type. Therefore, we consider first aid as an example of drowning in a pond. This happens often, somewhere through negligence, sometimes when intoxicated - there are many reasons.
First aid for drowning and asphyxiation are similar. The algorithm of the saving action:
- Remove victim from water. This should be done carefully, making sure that nothing interferes. If you suspect a fracture of the spine, the victim should be reached with a hard surface (board, shield, etc.).
- Lay the victim on his knee, thereby allowing residual fluids to leak from the nose and mouth. Wrap your fingers with a napkin and clean the victim’s mouth from foreign objects (sand, mucus, vomit, etc.).
- Call an ambulance.
- On the carotid artery, try to feel for a pulse. It is not recommended to look for it on the wrist, as it is more difficult.
- Listen to whether a heartbeat is present. Perhaps it will be very weak.
- In the absence of the two previous indicators, proceed to artificial respiration and indirect heart massage.
- After restoring the pulse and heartbeat of the victim, lay to one side. Cover with a blanket. Keep under constant supervision until the arrival of doctors.