Find out how to save someone’s life before the help arrives
How To Save A Life
Emergencies occur everyday, and there’s no telling where or when you might be in a position to save a life. Knowledge about the human body, and basic first aid, in these circumstances can make the difference between life and death.
The chances of saving a person’s life when it’s in danger depend on 1) recognizing the emergency, and 2) taking swift and directed action. This column covers how to save someone’s life starting with the types of emergencies that could arise, and steps to take in each scenario. They say, after all, proper preparation prevents poor performance.
Heart Attack
When it comes to how to save someone’s life, CPR is crucial. First developed in 1960 by Drs. Kouwenhoven, Safar, and Jude in trials at John Hopkins, CPR eventually began to be widely used by the public. It’s a little known fact that you technically don’t need formal training in order to do CPR’s and save a life.
When does it become necessary to use CPR? How can you use CPR to save someone’s life? Cardiac arrest in public looks most often like someone collapsing, or who suddenly becomes unresponsive. Granted, not all cases of unconsciousness are cardiac arrest. Many different root factors can cause episodes of sudden unconsciousness: such as not having eaten enough, panic attacks, or seeing blood. But in more serious cases, this may happen because the heart is weak, and not pumping enough blood to the brain.
Normally your heart pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood through your body every day. More than 15 percent of this goes to the brain, one of the most energy consuming organs. In normal circumstances, the human body can only survive minutes without oxygen. Compressions in CPR can save lives by keeping blood flowing through the body, without the help of the heart (which has stopped during cardiac arrest.) It prolongs the amount of time the body can survive before help arrives, or the heart is restarted.
While on average the chances of survival of patients with cardiac arrest are 1 in 10, CPR increases these odds. If CPR is performed within minutes of the cardiac arrest, the person’s odds of surviving can double or triple. That means, your decision to act immediately to save a person’s life could make all the difference!
Compressions in CPR can save lives by keeping blood flowing through the body, without the help of the heart (which has stopped during cardiac arrest.) It prolongs the amount of time the body can survive before help arrives, or the heart is restarted.
Bleeding Or Hemorrhage
The average human adult has about 1.2 to 1.5 gallons (or 4 to 6 liters) of blood. If a person is losing blood rapidly, the blood pressure and heart rate stay the same up to losing 30 percent of the body’s blood. More than 40 percent blood loss almost inevitably leads to death.
If somebody has a wound, being able to stop the bleed as fast as possible is priority number one. If you don’t stop very heavy bleeding, the injured person could die in only a few minutes – much faster than it will take the paramedics to get there.
First steps
Remove any clothes or minor debris, but if there is a large or embedded object do NOT attempt to remove it. This could cause the person to bleed out faster.
Control severe bleeding
Bleeding to the extremities should be controlled with either direct pressure or tourniquet use above the site of bleeding. A tourniquet is any sort of bandage, or strap that can be used in order to apply pressure, and to stop the flow of blood. In a public place, where no medical equipment is on hand, this may be done with a belt, or fashioned out of cloth by ripping a shirt.
More about limiting blood flow
Press hard and directly over the site of bleeding, at a point closer to the torso. Arteries and blood vessels get bigger the closer they are to the vital organs. So if the puncture or wound is on an extremity, the higher up it is, the faster the wound will bleed. If possible, if you can raise the limb above the level of the heart, this will decrease blood flow, potentially saving the person’s life. Put a blanket or rug around the body, in order to prevent loss of body heat.
If you don’t stop very heavy bleeding, the injured person could die in only a few minutes – much faster than it will take the paramedics to get there.
Stroke
Strokes occur when our brains are deprived of blood flow. Blood can stop flowing to your brain for various reasons – and also, actually, in different ways. The majority of the time it is the result of a blood clot.
Stroke recognition has become a big public health objective in recent years. The good news is, it is possible to prevent strokes and blood clots through diet, exercise, and positive lifestyle habits. Risk factors, such as high blood pressure or cholesterol, and diabetes, should be managed or minimized if at all possible.
There is an acronym used in the medical community, which can help you recognize when a stroke is happening. The acronym word is FAST:
- Face uneven
- Arm hanging down
- Speech is slurred or different
- Time to call 911 now.
When a stroke happens, and the brain no longer has freshly oxygenated blood flow, it has devastating consequences.
Seizure Or Sudden Unconsciousness
A major question that arises in emergency scenarios is how to treat an unconscious patient, especially if they have fallen down. The person’s position is of more importance than you may think. There is actually something called “the recovery position.”
Why should an unconscious or semi-conscious person be put in a certain position? Primarily it has to do with their breathing. Laying someone on their side after a seizure, trauma, or cardiac arrest helps patients breathe easier by clearing their airways.
Another major reason for this position is that when in distress, many patients are unable to control their saliva. If a person is completely unconscious, it’s possible to choke on spit or vomit. A significant number of seizure patients end up dying just for this reason. It is not always necessarily the seizure, or the cardiac arrest that causes death, but a complication.
To place someone in the recovery position, here are the steps you need to take:
- Kneel on the floor to one side of the patient.
- Place the person’s arm that is nearest to you so that it is bent at the elbow with the hand pointing upwards – like if someone were asking a question.
- Gently pick up the other hand with your palm against theirs and place the back of that hand on their opposite cheek. This will help offer support to the head and neck as you roll them over.
- Use your other arm and take the opposite leg so that the leg is bent and flat on the floor.
- Use this leg as a lever to pull them over onto their side.
- Pull the same knee into a perpendicular position to their body, in order to stabilize their position. This way the person shouldn’t roll over either back onto their front or back..
- If it hasn’t been done, call 911, to get an ambulance there as soon as possible.
- Keep checking whether the person is breathing by placing the back of your hand in front of their mouth. Tilt their head slightly back to ensure their air passageways are clear.
Laying someone on their side after a seizure, trauma, or cardiac arrest helps patients breathe easier by clearing their airways.
Severe Burns
At first you might not think of burns as a big topic for saving a life. First degree burns, the least severe, cause only pain, redness and swelling. Second degree burns also cause blistering, and can be called ‘partial thickness’ burns. A third degree burn however kills at least two layers of skin, turning skin black, brown, white or yellow, instead of red. This type of burn may even be numb due to damaged nerve endings. A fourth degree burn is life threatening and destroys a substantial amount of tissue.
Burns that can be managed at home are generally 1st and 2nd degree that do not involve the hands, feet, face, or genitals and covers a relatively small area like part of an arm or a leg.
For a major burn, most people know the rule to “stop, drop, and roll.” If you are in a situation where someone is on fire, to save their life, repeat this to them first. Other steps you should take:
- Wrap the person in thick material; such as a wool or cotton coat, rug, or blanket. (This can help in putting out the flames.)
- Pour water on them.
- Call 911.
- Make sure that the person is no longer touching any burning or smoking materials.
- Do NOT remove burned clothing that is stuck to the skin.
- Make sure the person is breathing. If necessary, begin CPR.
- Cover the burn area with a dry sterile bandage (if available) or clean cloth. A sheet will do if the burned area is large. Do not apply any ointments. Avoid breaking burn blisters.
- Raise the body part that is burned above the level of the heart.
- Protect the burn area from pressure and friction.
- If an electrical injury may have caused the burn, do not touch the victim directly. Use a non-metallic object to move the person away from exposed wires before starting first aid.
Dehydration
Most people don’t think of dehydration as a life-threatening disease, but if not recognized and treated, the side effects can be extremely severe. From heatstroke, to seizures, to medical shock, kidney failure, and a coma, these are conditions you majorly want to avoid.
Infants or older folks are especially vulnerable to dehydration. Here are some ways you recognize it, and know when to take steps:
- For an infant or young child: signs of dehydration include dry mouth and tongue, no wet diapers for several hours, no tears when the child is crying. In extreme cases, a sunken spot may appear at the top of the head, or the face could appear sunken.
- For adults: dehydration symptoms can appear as intense thirst, less frequent urination, and darkly-colored or extremely yellow urine.
- In either children or adults: dehydration can look like extreme tiredness, dizziness or confusion.
- Other signs include: bad breath, constipation, cravings, feeling cold, headaches and muscle cramping.
- Contact a medical professional if someone has diarrhea for more than a day, can’t keep down liquids, and becomes disoriented or much sleepier than normal.
You might need something with electrolytes to rebalance your body’s fluids, which are contained not just in Gatorade but also in other drinks, like milk.
–Dr. Jose Torradas
