First Aid and Emergency Care
This domain tests the correct immediate action at an accident or sudden illness: the sequence of assessment, CPR, and the condition-specific first aid that buys time until the ambulance arrives.
Core rules
- Three aims of first aid: preserve life, prevent deterioration, promote recovery.
- Sequence: DRABC - Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing, Circulation.
- Adult CPR: compressions 100–120/min, depth 5–6 cm, ratio 30:2, minimal interruptions, attach an AED as soon as it is available.
- Unconscious but breathing normally: recovery position, monitor breathing.
- Shock: lie flat, raise the legs, keep warm, nothing by mouth, urgent transfer.
- Burns: cool with running water for 20 minutes, remove jewellery, cover with clean non-fluffy cloth; no ice, toothpaste, oil or butter.
- Fracture: immobilise in the position found, support the joints above and below, check the pulse beyond the injury.
- Choking adult: up to 5 back blows, then up to 5 abdominal thrusts, alternating.
- Snake bite: reassure, immobilise the limb below heart level, remove rings, no incision, no tourniquet, no suction, reach hospital fast.
- Seizure: protect the head, loosen tight clothing, put nothing in the mouth, time the fit, recovery position afterwards.
Worked example
An adult collapses in the corridor. Reasoning: check danger first, then shake and shout for response; send a bystander to call for the ambulance while you check breathing for no more than 10 seconds. If breathing is absent or only gasping, start chest compressions at 100–120/min, depth 5–6 cm, 30 compressions to 2 breaths, and use the AED when it arrives. Pulse checks must not delay compressions.
Traps that cost marks
Spending a minute feeling for a pulse before starting CPR; giving an unconscious casualty water; applying ice directly to a burn; tying a tight tourniquet on a snake bite; pulling out a deeply embedded object; leaving the casualty alone to search for help instead of sending someone.