First aid and emergency response to traffic accidents
First-aid questions are practical and prioritised: secure the scene, call for help, then treat threats in order of lethality. The legal duty to render aid overlaps with the medical content.
Securing the scene
- Warning triangle placed where approaching drivers see it in time, well before the obstacle (further away on a dálnice), reflective vest on, hazard lights on.
- Engine off, keys out, parking brake applied, no smoking.
- Call 112 and state the location, the number of casualties and the type of incident.
Order of priorities
- Your own safety first, then massive bleeding, then breathing.
- Unconscious but breathing: stabilised position, keep warm, monitor continuously.
- Not breathing: CPR at 30:2, compressions 5–6 cm deep at 100–120 per minute, AED as soon as it arrives.
Bleeding, shock, fractures
- Direct pressure on the wound, then a pressure bandage; a tourniquet only as a last resort, and write down the time it was applied.
- Shock: lie the casualty down, raise the legs, keep warm, give nothing to drink.
- Do not remove a motorcyclist's helmet, do not turn a suspected spinal injury, do not move casualties unless there is fire or another immediate danger.
Bus-specific situations
- Many casualties: treat the silent ones first - a screaming patient is usually breathing.
- Evacuate the bus only for fire, fuel spill or the risk of a further collision; use the emergency exits and the kladívko.
Duties after an accident
- Stop, secure the scene, provide first aid, call the emergency services and do not leave the scene. Failure to render aid is a criminal offence.
Worked example
A passenger collapses in the aisle; you stop safely and find no reaction and no normal breathing. Reasoning: call 112, start compressions immediately at 100–120 per minute in a 30:2 ratio, attach the AED when it arrives, and continue until the ambulance crew takes over.
Traps
- Giving an unconscious person water.
- Moving an injured person "to make them comfortable".
- Forgetting to note the time a tourniquet was applied.
- Waiting for someone else to make the call.