EMCARE First Aid Training: An Introduction To First Aid Equipment

EMCARE's first aid training understands just how important a role the right equipment can take in a rescue, and we thus emphasise confident and proper use of these tools in our course. This article will, in seven distinct parts, break down the importance and role of various first aid equipment, from items as basic as plasters to CPR masks and defibrillators. Without the courses we provide and the knowledge we spread, EMCARE hopes to provide South Africa with more life-saving emergency responders.

First Aid Training: Understanding the Importance of First Aid Equipment
Equipment is a very necessary part of any first aid response, with many of a rescuer's key tasks being impossible solely by human hand. The right tool, used at the right time, can help not only prevent further harm and increase full recovery times and chances, but potentially even save a life.

However, these tools generally aren't just items an untrained individual can wield, especially not effectively. That's why first aid courses spend a significant amount of time teaching their students how and when to use these lifesaving tools.

First Aid Training: The Basic Components of a First Aid Kit
The fact of the matter is that most first aid responders generally won't be facing life or death crises on the regular (we hope.) What's more likely is that they're going to be patching up small cuts and scrapes, perhaps helping remove a thorn or two.

This doesn't mean that these small injuries are to be ignored, as a first aid responder's priority is to prevent them from developing into more severe issues. This means that all first aid kits are stocked with basics such as bandages, plasters and dressings. They'll also include other basics such as antiseptics and alcohol-based cleaning solutions. For generalist use, responders also carry gloves, scissors and safety pins.

First Aid Training: Advanced First Aid Tools for Workplace and Field Use
A first aid kit isn't complete without the necessary tools for handling more extreme medical emergencies. One of the most salient of these is resuscitation aids, including items such as the CPR mask, which increase the effectiveness of CPR while keeping the rescuer safe from pathogens.

The kit will also include items designed to address bone fractures and breaks, such as splints and slings to keep the limb stable. In the case of severe burns, the kit is stocked with burn dressings and rapid cooling gels, which should be immediately applied.

First Aid Training: Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs)
This item may not necessarily be carried in many first aid kits, but a prepared premise may have one readily available: a defibrillator. These are last-resort resuscitation aids that use powerful blasts of electricity to restart a heart in the case of cardiac emergencies.

They're made to be as user-friendly as possible, but that doesn't change the fact that one needs some skill and confidence to safely administer powerful electric shocks to a patient. That's why first aid training spends plenty of time familiarising students with the use of this potent tool.

First Aid Training: Trauma and Emergency Response Equipment
In the case of severe trauma, first aid responders must be equipped to deal with heavy flesh wounds and internal damage. Some of the most life-saving of these can be the simple tourniquet or the more modern haemostatic dressings, both designed to staunch heavy blood flow.

First aid responders will learn how to load patients onto stretchers and safely evacuate them, where medical professionals can take over the rest. At this time, it may be necessary to know how to use an oxygen kit in the case of a respiratory emergency.

First Aid Training: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in First Aid
Not all of a first aid responder's equipment is for the protection of the patient. While indeed masks, face shields and gloves help prevent cross-contamination and infection of wounds being treated, they are also designed to safeguard the health of rescuers.

First aid responders enter hazardous scenarios and come into contact with all sorts of pathogens from the patients they treat. It would be downright unfair if a first aid responder were to fall ill in the service of others' health, so they are taught how to use these items to protect themselves.

First Aid Training: Storage and Accessibility of First Aid Equipment
A first aid kit is of little use to anyone if it's stored in a place that's difficult to reach or find during an emergency. Students are taught to always keep their first aid kit in a clearly labelled container, preferably the universally recognised red and white cross-marked bag. If not kept on the person, these kits should be stashed somewhere where they can be retrieved easily and quickly.

One may even want to keep multiple, for example, keeping one in the house and one in the car. The interior of the kit should also be kept in good condition. This means keeping tabs on the expiration dates of medicines and sterile items, replacing any outdated or damaged items immediately. Students are taught to create a schedule for themselves that ensures regular kit checks, so that they'll never be caught short in an emergency scenario.

Conclusion

In conclusion, no first aid responder is truly prepared without a stocked first aid kit and the knowledge of how to use all the tools available to them. That's why the EMCARE first aid training takes the time to familiarise our students with each of these items and how to best use them, gaining both skill and confidence in the process. From something as simple as a bandage to tools as advanced as the defibrillator, each item in the first aid kit can potentially save lives in the right scenario.