First Aid and Emergency Response
Scope
First aid questions ask you to act in the right order, not to diagnose. The exam rewards DRABC, correct CPR numbers and the correct "do not do" for each emergency.
Core rules
- DRABC: Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing, Circulation.
- Call for help early - in India the ambulance number is 108 - and send for an AED if one is available.
- Adult CPR: 30 compressions to 2 breaths, rate 100–120/min, depth 5–6 cm, full recoil, minimal interruptions. Two trained rescuers use 15:2 for a child. Compression-only CPR is acceptable for untrained bystanders.
- Recovery position for an unconscious person who is breathing: lateral, head tilted back, upper leg forward.
- Severe choking in an adult: 5 back blows then 5 abdominal thrusts, repeated; infants receive back blows and chest thrusts, never abdominal thrusts.
- Burns: cool under running water for 20 minutes, remove jewellery, cover loosely; no ice, toothpaste, oil or butter.
- Suspected fracture: immobilise in the found position, support the joints above and below, do not try to straighten.
- Shock: lie supine, raise the legs, keep warm, give nothing by mouth. Snake bite: immobilise the limb; no tourniquet, no incision, no sucking.
Worked example
A student collapses in a corridor. Reasoning step by step: make the area safe → tap and shout → no response → shout for help and send a bystander to call 108 → head tilt, chin lift, look/listen/feel for 10 seconds → not breathing normally → 30 compressions at 5–6 cm → 2 rescue breaths → continue 30:2 → attach AED when it arrives and follow the voice prompts → hand over to the ambulance team with times and events.
Traps that cost marks
Checking the pulse for a full minute before starting compressions; giving water to an unconscious casualty; putting a suspected spinal-injury casualty into the recovery position; applying a tourniquet to a snake bite; using ice on a burn.