First Aid Precautions

First Aid Safety Steps

1.   Look around. Is it safe to help? If not, call 9-1-1, have someone else call, or seek medical help. If it is safe to help, stay calm and go to step 2.

2.   CHECK for Circulation Signs (Breathing, Coughing, or Moving).

•   If the person is not breathing, but has other Circulation Signs, do Rescue Breathing.

•   If the person is not breathing and has no Circulation Signs, do CPR.

•   If the person is breathing, find page(s) for the first aid condition in the Table of Contents on page 10. Follow the instructions given.

3.   Protect yourself from hepatitis B virus and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. You can get these from an infected person’s blood or other body fluids if they enter your body. These organisms can enter through cuts or breaks in your skin or through the lining of your mouth, nose, and eyes. When you give first aid or do CPR, take these steps, especially if you don’t know the person:

•   Use plastic wrap or a plastic bag that you can throw away whenever you touch another person’s body fluids, blood, or other objects that may be soiled with his or her blood. If possible, have the person apply pressure to the wound with his or her own hand.

•   Cover the person’s open wounds with dressings, extra gauze, or water proof material.

•   Use a mouth-to-mouth barrier device when you do rescue breathing. The person could have blood in the mouth. If you are not willing to do mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing during CPR, do chest-compression-only CPR.

•   Report every incident in which you are exposed to another person’s blood or other body fluids. Do this whether or not you use the safety steps listed on this page.

4.   Before you give any medicine to a person:

•   Find out if the person has medicine, such as nitroglycerin, prescribed for him or her to take for a heart condition. Ask where he or she keeps the medicine. Find out how much to give. Ask the person or read the directions on the medicine’s label, if there is one.

•   Ask the person if you can give the medicine to him or her.

•   Find out if the person is allergic to any medicine. Look for a medical alert tag.