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Experience Paper Information-First Aid
My first experience of first aid is always exceptional and remains stuck in my mind. We were out for a short evening hike with my friends. The stroll was quite exciting and had breath-taking scenery. After almost an hour of hiking, it became more challenging as some of us were getting exhausted. We had to lower our paces, and everyone seemed fine
Shortly, one of my friends fainted. This left me with a feeling of being overwhelmed. At this point, I was not sure what actions were appropriate or applicable to the situation. I experienced a sudden and debilitating feeling that I could not deal with the situation. The day had been changing from rapidly hot, and thus the victim could be suffering from severe dehydration or suffering from heatstroke.
One thing I noticed is that it could be hard to train for the situation at hand until it happens. It could not be easy to understand the initial reaction or even what it could feel. The greater puzzle is to know how to do it. Nevertheless, I realized that in any situation, I am not meant to panic. I took a deep breath. I became calm and thus proceeded to assess the situation.
Before positioning my friend on his back, I had to access whether he had injuries on his back. Fortunately, he had no injuries and was still breathing. I raised his legs above his heart level, about thirty centimeters. I instructed the other friends to loosen his constrictive clothing and remove his belt. Assessing whether the person was breathing guided me on whether to do the CPR or not. I let the person lying under a shade and waited to regain his consciousness.
Fainting happens when one’s brain temporarily fails to get a sufficient supply of blood. The resulting of this is the loss of consciousness, which is usually brief. In some cases, it may have no medical significance. Thus, the most important thing to do is treat the loss of consciousness as a first-aid until those symptoms or the signs get relieved. Nevertheless, it is always essential to know its cause and whether there is a need to take more medical precautions.
After about three minutes, my friend gained consciousness. I knew him well, and I was aware that he had no underlying medical condition. However, I had to inquire from him whether he felt dizziness, and he assured me he felt as usual. Being a person who is not usually involved in intense physical activities, I could tell that probably he was suffering from overexertion or dehydration. Dehydration could have been as a result of losing more water as compared to water taken in. This could have been caused by hot weather or extreme sweating. In his case, his mouth was dry, and from that, I could tell he was hydrated. We had to give him water for about thirty minutes. From the incident, we had to stop hiking for fear of getting incidents of similar nature.
From this incident, I could tell I did not do my best. It is important not to let my body overwhelm me in such a situation. Also, common sense and calmness was a great aid during the first aid process. Though I feel I did great to manage the situation, I still feel it could have been better if I did not delay as a result of a short time panic.