Emergencies can strike anywhere and at any time. Your knowledge can help ensure a better result for an illness or accident victim. First Aid training includes CPR, one of the most important life-saving skills for someone suffering cardiac arrest, but it also provides you with the know-how to deal with choking, drowning, burns, and injuries.
A person with first aid training has the skills to assist others in any emergency. The training helps give them the clarity required to perform the three C’s (check, call, and care) while keeping the three primary objectives of first aid in mind, known as the three Ps.
What are the 3 Ps of First Aid?
First aid training’s overall objective is to help the sick or wounded at the time of the incident until professional medical assistance arrives in the form of emergency services. During this time, you have several objectives – known as the 3 Ps:
1. Preserve Life
The role of a first responder in any situation is to preserve life. Therefore, you may need to perform one or more of the skills you learned during your first aid training to safeguard the victim’s life. These may include CPR on someone who has stopped breathing, bandaging someone to stop bleeding, attending to someone choking, etc., to help preserve the victim’s life.
Your aim as a first aider is to check their A-B-Cs (airway, breathing and circulation). That means you ensure the victim’s airway has no blockages and confirm if they are breathing or not. Then your next step is to assess the quality of the victim’s circulation and make the necessary adjustments. Your goal is to prevent their condition from worsening until assistance arrives.
2. Prevent Deterioration
In any situation you may face, you must do everything within your control to keep the victim stable until medical assistance arrives. Therefore, you aim to prevent the person’s condition from getting worse and prevent any further injury. To do this, you may need to move the victim to a safer location, apply your first aid skills, stabilize them, or stay with the victim and provide them with comfort.
If the victim is unconscious, make sure they are in a position that ensures their airway is unobstructed after removing them from the dangerous environment, e.g., a busy road, fire, swollen river, etc.
3. Promote Recovery
Once you have stabilized the victim and prevented any deterioration in their condition, you can use your first aid kit to promote their recovery. For example, if the person has a wound, you can clean, disinfect and bandage it to prevent infection and promote healing. You can also continue giving them comfort and reassurance.
Remember: You should never provide medication for pain relief or any other medicines unless you have spoken to a medical expert first, especially if the person is bleeding.
Inquire about First Aid & CPR Training Course
Want to learn how to implement the 3 Ps of First Aid correctly? Register for a First Aid & CPR training course! Gain life-saving skills and be prepared.
Importance of Basic First Aid
Unless required for their work, many people often ignore the importance of basic first aid training. Some people will argue that they don’t have the time, don’t know where to get the training, think they know how to react in an emergency, or never believe they will need to help someone.
Here’s why everybody needs first aid training:
It Can Save Lives
First aid training gives you the self-assurance to act quickly and confidently if any emergency arises. That means you will know the correct procedures to ensure you call for help while assisting the victim.
Comforting the Victim
Your first aid training provides you with the skills to bring relief and comfort to the patient until medical assistance in the form of emergency personnel arrives. In addition, your training allows you to calmly assess the situation as you help the patient relax as you stabilize them or treat their injuries.
Preventing the Situation from Worsening
In some situations (cardiac arrest is the best example), the patient must receive immediate first aid care to prevent death. However, in other cases, immediate help can also prevent any rapid deterioration of their health.
If you know how to provide primary care, you can help stabilize a patient while waiting for emergency medical services to arrive. Therefore, with the knowledge gained from basic first aid training, you may not even need a kit to practice first aid in many situations, especially if you have a few essential household items around you.
The training teaches you the importance of the three Cs and the three Ps and how to collect information and data to inform emergency services on their arrival. In just a few words, first aid training ensures you become a valuable link within the chain of survival.
Creating Confidence
Your basic first aid knowledge provides the confidence to perform your skills and abilities when faced with any emergency. Also, the first aid training you receive helps you reflect on how you can assist others in several situations you may face at work, in your community, or at home.
Encouraging a Healthy and Safe Lifestyle
First aid training allows you to constantly assess your surroundings, helping promote a sense of safety and well-being for you and others. Your awareness of dangers makes you better prepared to keep areas accident-free, ensuring the safety of those around you and helping to reduce accidents.
Now that you know the 3 primary objectives of first aid and its importance, you can see why you shouldn’t put off having first aid training any longer. First aid certification ensures you have the skills and confidence to face situations where you can preserve life, prevent deterioration, and promote recovery. In addition, you learn the simple steps required and how to keep a level head throughout any situation.
Where to get First Aid Training
Coast2Coast provides Canadian Red Cross First Aid training which is WSIB-approved in 18 locations in the Greater Toronto Area, Western, and Eastern Ontario. The courses include blended and private/group training, making them available to more people than ever. Upon completion, you receive certification for your training, giving you the confidence to provide life-saving skills whenever needed. In addition, your training ensures you always remember the 3 Ps, the primary objectives of life-saving – preserve life, prevent deterioration, and promote recovery.
