Category: First aid blog

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Anatomy for first aiders: the respiratory system

The respiratory system can be divided into two sections: upper and lower. The upper respiratory system includes the nostrils, nasal cavity, mouth, pharynx (throat) and larynx (voice box). The throat is a common passageway...

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What are Universal Infection Control Precautions?

Universal precautions (also commonly called standard precautions) are the basis of an approach to infection control which treats all human blood and materials as potentially infectious, and include: engineering controls administrative controls which include workplace...

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How to calculate an Apgar score

The Apgar score is a standardised way of checking the health of a newborn baby. It was named after its creator, Dr Virginia Apgar, Professor of Anesthesiology at Columbia University in the USA, who died...

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First aid for a subconjunctival hemorrhage

A subconjunctival hemorrhage is a bleed beneath the surface of the eye (known as the conjunctiva). The most common cause is a burst blood vessel underlying the conjunctiva.  The blood vessels which supply the...

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How to use an Oropharyngeal (OP) Airway

Oropharyngeal (OP) airways are curved plastic devices that assist in the maintenance of an adequate airway in the unresponsive casualty. The OP airway by itself does not replace correct airway management practices and should...

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First aid for Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder otherwise known as manic depressive disorder is a mental health illness where patients experience periods of extreme elation or mania and periods of depression hence the term ‘bipolar’. It effects approximately 1/100...

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First aid for Dementia

According to the World Health Organisation, approximately 47.5 million people world wide suffer from Dementia. This number is set to sky rocket with the increasing elderly population. The term ‘dementia’ encompasses a group of...

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How to talk someone out of an anxiety attack

Anxiety attacks are surprisingly common and occur most frequently in women. They can be caused by a variety of things that are specific to that individual e.g. fear of going outside or news that...

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What factors can affect blood pressure?

Blood pressure is defined as the pressure exerted by circulating blood on the walls of the arteries and is highest in the large arteries leaving the heart. It is measured in millimetres of mercury...

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A guide to heart rhythms for first aiders

Our heart is controlled by electrical activity which allows it to pump in a co-ordinated way. A disturbance in the normal electrical activity is known as an arrhythmia.  Arrhythmias can cause the heart to stop...

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First aid for Cerebral Compression

Cerebral compression occurs when there is a build up of pressure inside the skull. Cerebral compression can be caused by bleeding into the skull or swelling of the brain tissue after a head injury. It...