Learning the ABC (and not the way we did in kindergarten)

One patient died this morning.
I did the CPR thing, yeah you know, the one you saw on movies... It's not as cool as it looks, believe me.

I've been an intern on this hospital for almost 6 months and it was the first time someone died during my shift, on my watch, so I can't help but feel a little gloomy.

Anyway, afterwards I remembered my bestfriend Asti contacted me a few weeks ago. She said "Tess, you have to teach me how to be a doctor!" amused by the question yet confused, I replied "Why?" and she told me her story; basically her friend was on an accident and she was right in front of her, not knowing what to do, and of course, she feels sorry for being not helpful at all at that time.



Well.. Here's a little First Aid tips:
1. Calm yourself down
2. Call for help, ambulance, a nearby clinic, anything
3. Help the person, but don't put yourself in danger
4. Introduce yourself and tell them your going to help
5. Do not feed or give drink to the person. And avoid moving them. (In Indonesia these are the most common mistakes people do on traffic accidents)
6. If there is a more competent person came around (a doctor, or other emergency health professionals) let them do their job.
7. Stop helping if you're exhausted

Now, the basics of First Aid are ABC.

A- Airway
B- Breathing
C- Circulation

It might take more than one entry of a blog to explain it, so if you're really curious, you can read about it here :
http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/first-aid-advice/life-saving-procedures.aspx
http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Basic-First-Aid

Happy learning!


Love,
TS