Health, Hygiene and First Aid
This domain tests the definition and dimensions of health, personal and environmental hygiene, and the correct immediate response to common emergencies.
Health and hygiene
- WHO (1948): health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease.
- Personal hygiene: bathing, oral care, handwashing with soap at critical times, nail and hair care, menstrual hygiene, clean clothing, foot care.
- Environmental hygiene: safe drinking water (boiling, chlorination, filtration), sanitary latrine, garbage disposal, safe food handling, pest control, ventilation.
- Communicable diseases spread by air, water and food, contact, vectors and blood; prevention is cheaper than cure.
First aid principles
Protect yourself and the casualty, assess the situation, send for help (108 in India), then follow ABC - Airway, Breathing, Circulation. Never move a suspected spinal injury; never give fluids to an unconscious person.
- Bleeding: direct pressure with a clean cloth, elevate, bandage; do not remove a soaked dressing, add another on top.
- Burns: cool under running water about 20 minutes, cover with clean non-fluffy cloth; no ice, toothpaste, ghee or ink; do not burst blisters.
- Fracture: immobilise the joint above and below; never straighten the limb.
- Snake bite: keep calm, immobilise the limb below heart level, remove rings; no incision, tourniquet or sucking.
- Poisoning: identify the substance; do not induce vomiting after a corrosive or petroleum product.
- CPR (adult): 30 compressions at 100–120 per minute, 5–6 cm deep, to 2 rescue breaths.
Worked example
A child spills boiling milk on the forearm; skin is red and blistered. Answer: remove the wet cloth, hold the arm under cool running water for 20 minutes, cover loosely, apply nothing else, give oral fluids, and take the child to hospital if blisters are extensive. Ice is harmful because it constricts vessels and can deepen tissue damage.
Traps
- Cutting or sucking a snake bite.
- Applying butter or toothpaste to a burn.
- Giving water to an unconscious casualty.
- Beginning CPR with breaths rather than compressions.