First aid, emergency response and incident handling
First aid, emergency response and incident handling
This domain tests the first minutes after a collision, fire or passenger medical emergency. The exam expects scene safety, correct emergency calls and simple life support rather than heroic treatment.
Core rules
- Protect the scene first: switch off the engine, apply the parking brake, warn traffic with hazard lights and a triangle where safe, and put on a high-visibility vest. Do not create a second collision.
- Call 112, North Macedonia's unified emergency number, and give the location, number of casualties, hazards and whether anyone is trapped. Follow the operator's instructions.
- Evacuate passengers only if there is immediate danger such as fire or a fuel leak. Use emergency exits and ramps; account for all passengers, including wheelchair users and children.
- Check responsiveness and breathing. If unresponsive and not breathing normally, start CPR at 30 compressions to 2 breaths and use an AED as soon as available. If breathing, use the recovery position unless a spinal injury is suspected.
- Control severe bleeding with direct pressure. Do not give food or drink. Keep casualties warm and monitor breathing until help arrives.
- Record what happened and preserve tachograph data; do not discuss fault or admit liability.
Worked example
A bus is struck at a junction. One passenger is unconscious and not breathing; another has a bleeding arm. The driver stops safely, warns traffic, calls 112, sends someone for the first-aid kit and AED, starts CPR on the non-breathing passenger, and directs another person to apply pressure to the bleeding arm. Passengers are kept back from the road.
Traps
Common errors are moving casualties unnecessarily, leaving the scene to find help, forgetting to count passengers, putting an unconscious breathing casualty in a sitting position, and using a tourniquet without training when direct pressure works.