What is First Aid?
3 ps Providing initial assistance in times of injury or illness, commonly known as first aid, is the immediate or timely care extended until full medical attention is accessible. First-aid measures can often prove effective for minor health concerns. In the case of more serious issues, it is crucial to continue administering first aid until advanced medical care becomes available.
What is meant by the 3 Ps in First Aid?
The essence of first aid actively involves three Ps: fostering recovery, preventing deterioration, and preserving life. These fundamental techniques are accessible to anyone and do not require medical training, yet they harbor the potential to save lives and prevent severe injuries or infections in those who are injured. The applicability of these emergency and first aid tips may vary depending on the circumstances.
Being equipped with a survival kit and understanding how to use its contents properly can significantly contribute to assisting someone in distress. While learning first aid is crucial for the benefit of others, it is equally important to consider the potential impact on a personal level. Hence, enrolling in first aid courses proves advantageous, enabling individuals to actively recognize emergencies, administer basic first aid, and bridge the gap until professional help arrives.
What are the 3 priorities in First Aid?
A simple way to remember first aid is to think of the “Three Ps”
- Preserve life
- Prevent deterioration
- Promote recovery
Preserve Life:
This is one of the main occupations for first aiders. Thankfully it’s easy. Even if you’ve not heard of the 3Ps you’ll know the A-B-C of first aid. To preserve life,
A: Assure the person’s airway is open. Every course covers how to deal with choking.
B: Verify their breathing. Make sure you are prepared in case they aren’t. Also in every course is that.
C: Evaluate how well they circulate. Breathing problems will shortly follow from poor circulation!
D: Inspect for fatal bleeding. Linked to the previous point: circulation will soon stop if all the blood flows out. and soon neither breathing nor life will exist.
Prevent Deterioration
After addressing the preservation of life, much of first aid concentrates on preventing the condition from worsening. We are not in the business of curing illnesses; that’s the doctor’s role. However, in many cases, we can still prevent them from deteriorating. While joining a course provides more detailed information, here are some suggestions:
- Manage the person experiencing a seizure.
- Assist a diabetic in need of sugar.
- Address bleeding before it worsens.
- Prevent movement in a fractured arm or leg while waiting for an ambulance.
This set of measures, aimed at preventing the disease from worsening, includes actions such as wearing gloves to reduce the risk of infection, washing wounds, and determining who requires additional assistance and who can return to work or play.
Promoting Recovery
Finally, if we have preserved life appropriately and prevented the situation from worsening, we can contribute to the patient’s recovery. This may involve providing additional care recommendations to parents or childcare providers, advising a patient to return to the first aider at work within 24 hours, maintaining accurate records, ensuring a patient rests when necessary, and other relevant actions.
Best online Course to learn First Aid
If you want to learn first aid, Nursing revalidation provides the best online First aid Course.
The aim of this course is to equip you with the theoretical knowledge, skills, and confidence you need to deal with first-aid situations. It covers all the key topics including emergency planning, assessing a situation, basic Life Support, CPR, shock, fractures, bleeding, and a range of other minor illnesses and injuries. Please be aware that having theoretical knowledge on its own is not enough to be considered competent in first aid and practical demonstration in some areas is required to complete this training. Please contact us to arrange this.
Bottom line
The main aim of first aid is to maintain the patient’s life; the other two objectives are to promote recovery and stop further deterioration. You can choose first aid treatments and objectives with the help of the three Ps of first aid.
