The First 5 Minutes
Imagine this!!!!
You are driving home after work listening to your favourite song when you come across a motor vehicle crash, or you are enjoying a quiet walk with your dog when someone collapses on the footpath in front of you.
You’re at the beach enjoying the sun when someone is being pulled out of the water unconscious or you are sitting on your lounge at home when suddenly you hear the heart wrenching scream “HELP, come quick something is wrong”, your young baby, child, spouse, mum, dad or loved one has collapsed unexpectedly.
What do we do, how do we do it, should we do it??? All these questions, anxieties, concerns, priorities, stresses, fears, doubts are real raw emotions!!! I need to do something, but I don’t know what. I don’t want to hurt them; I don’t want to make things worse. Can I be held responsible, should I leave, should I pretend I didn’t see anything, someone else will act, someone else will know what to do, but no one does. What now?????
The first 5 minutes of any medical emergency is crucial. Medical research has shown undeniably that in the unconscious patient who is not breathing, brain damage begins to occur after around 4 minutes and this damage is irreversible by the 10-minute mark.
Often, it’s what isn’t done in the first 5 minutes that impacts the patient most, rather than what was attempted. This is simply because any attempt at providing first aid is better than no attempt. So, what should we do in this crucial 5 minutes. We need to remain calm and composed, but how do we achieve this when it occurs unexpectedly???
We need to follow a plan that has been developed to ensure the safety of those around and prioritise the care/steps that we should follow at a moment of complete chaos and utter loss of control. Firstly we must assess for dangers (D), ensuring the safety of ourselves, first and fore most. There is no benefit to anyone should we fall victims ourselves.
Once dangers have been deemed safe or removed, we must prioritise assessing the response (R) of the patient, that is, are they conscious or unconscious and sending for help (S) particularly if unconscious.
Following the D-R-S-A-B-C-D action plan as per the Australian and New Zealand Committee on Resuscitation (ANZCOR) guidelines is a must in the first 5 minutes of helping those who need it.