Health, fitness to drive and first aid
This domain combines the medical standards for the CE licence with practical first aid at a collision scene.
Fitness to drive
Group 2 medical standards apply: corrected visual acuity, visual field and colour vision must meet the requirements, and a medical certificate (helseattest) is needed for the CE licence. Its validity shortens with age, so check the date rather than the habit. Illness, medication, alcohol, drugs and untreated sleep apnoea all reduce fitness, and the duty to report a condition that makes you unfit is yours.
First aid priorities
- Secure the scene, then check response, airway and breathing.
- Call 113 with an exact position: road number, direction, kilometre marker or tunnel name.
- Unconscious but breathing: recovery position, monitor, keep warm, nothing by mouth.
- Not breathing: CPR at 30 compressions to 2 breaths, 100 to 120 per minute, 5 to 6 cm deep, swapping rescuer every 2 minutes; use an AED when available.
- Bleeding: direct pressure, then a tourniquet if a limb bleed cannot be controlled; note the time.
Cold and shock
Insulate the casualty from the ground and cover them. Do not remove a motorcyclist's helmet unless the airway is obstructed.
Worked example
A driver is unresponsive in the cab after a rear-end collision, breathing but noisy. You open the airway with a chin lift, place him in the recovery position on the ground, keep him warm and call 113. You give no water and do not leave him alone.
Traps that cost marks
- Delaying the 113 call until first aid is finished.
- Moving a casualty with a suspected spinal injury unless fire or traffic forces it.
- Letting a helseattest expire unnoticed.