An emergency is any life-threatening situation that occurs suddenly — cardiac arrest, syncope, seizures, nosebleeds, choking, bleeding, burns, sprains, fractures, bites, and more. First aid is the emergency care given to an injured or sick person, with objectives to prevent further harm and ensure the victim reaches specialized treatment safely.
Basic First Aid — Physical Care
Priorities
- Assess the situation quickly and calmly
- Protect yourself and casualties from danger
- Assess the conditions of all casualties
- Comfort and reassure casualties
- Deal with any life-threatening conditions
- Call for help
The Four Ps
Preserve Life
Control bleeding, lessen shock, give mouth-to-mouth or cardiac massage.
Protect the Unconscious
Remove the victim from the source or remove the cause — e.g. active electric wire, protect from weather.
Prevent
Prevent the injury from becoming worse — cover wounds, immobilize fractures, make the patient comfortable.
Promote
Promote recovery — lessen anxiety, relieve pain, handle gently.
ABC of First Aid
Airway
If someone is not breathing, clear their airway of secretions; apply head-tilt-chin lift and jaw thrust.
Breathing
If the airway is clear and they are still not breathing, provide rescue breathing.
Circulation
Perform chest compressions to keep blood circulating. If breathing but unresponsive, check pulse; if heart has stopped, provide chest compressions. Applied as CAB in modern practice.
Psychological First Aid (PFA) — Care for the Soul
An initial disaster response intervention to promote safety, stabilize survivors, and connect individuals to help and resources. Humane, supportive, and practical assistance built on human resilience — reducing stress symptoms and assisting healthy recovery after traumatic events, natural disasters, or personal crises.
The three action principles of PFA are: Look, Listen, and Link.
Five Components
- Creating a sense of safety — communicating to the brain's fight-or-flight system that the stressful situation is over
- Create calm
- Create self and collective efficacy
- Create connection
- Create hope
During administration of basic first aid, Psychological First Aid (PFA) and Spiritual First Aid (SFA) also become relevant to build coping capacity and resilience. PFA assesses immediate concerns — it is not on-site therapy, but enhances safety and provides physical and emotional comfort.
Practical summary adapted from The Drill Magazine, Vol. 2.
