An emergency by definition is unexpected and urgent but when it comes to life, it can turn out deadly. Many do not plan ahead for such scares but there is one way of keeping yourself prepared: Getting trained in First Aid. Healthy Living shares some first aid tips to help you in an emergency.
Winnie Parchue, First Aid Coordinator, Belize Red Cross
“First aid is a skill that, when learnt properly, will assist any body through the rest of their lives.”
Marleni Cuellar, Reporting
Mrs. Winnie Parchue is the First Aid Coordinator at the Belize Red Cross. She has over twenty years of experience in first aid and conducts training for first aid practitioners to respond in different emergency situations. She shares some tips on how to deal with a breathing emergency. That is when a person is having difficulty breathing or stops breathing entirely.
Winniw Parchue
“It is very important to know what steps to take whenever someone stops breathing because if we don’t actually start doing something that person can actually get brain damage in ten minutes. The first thing you do in first aid, is there something which is A for airway, B for breathing and C for circulation. So you ensure that number one, that you open the person’s airway. There is something we call the head tilt, chin lift that we use to open airway because that usually will make the persons tongue fall back to position. And usually as soon as that happens you might see the person will start breathing on his/her own. If that doesn’t work if after you open that person’s airway and their still not breathing you can actually reposition it again.”
Next, check again for breathing. You can see this from the rise and fall of the chest or by feeling the warmth of the cheek.
Winnie Parchue
“If still that doesn’t work then you know you have to take steps to save this person, which is giving the person two breaths into the mouth. After you give that person two breaths you check again for breathing; the rise and fall of the chest. And if none of that is happening then you immediately start doing CPR which is the chest compression.”
CPR or the cardio-pulmonary resuscitation also known as the heart and lung external massaging is one of the key skills associated with first aid and is one method of response in a breathing emergency.
Winnie Parchue
“Once you determine that the person doesn’t have a pulse and is not breathing, you’re gonna start with two quick breaths. And with an adult you ensure that with the head tilted back you pinch the nose. You keep it pinched and then you’re gonna open the mouth wide enough to create the seal around the adults mouth and you give two breaths, After that check for breathing and then you start chest compressions. It is important how you position your hands on the person’s chest. And you position your palms of your hands right in the middle of the chest between the nipples. And then you’re going to compress down one to one and a half inches down thirty times. Once you start that cycle, it’s five cycles, two breaths thirty compressions until the person starts breathing.”
A breathing emergency is only one aspect of first aid training. There are many life saving methods that can be learnt. There are also some bad practices to discontinue.
Winnie Parchue
“On an emergency accident scene it is important for layman or for people to realize that you don’t more anybody unnecessarily. You see this happening quote a lot of times because would hear that the ambulance is not reaching in time, the police is taking long and they would just pick up the person put them in the back of a vehicle and take them to the hospital and that is wrong. We fail to realize that when we do that we may cause further harm to the person.”
While much of first aid skills may appear to be common sense they are useful skills to acquire. The Belize Red Cross conducts near to fifteen hundred trainings per year. These trainings are offered to workplaces and families or individuals. The sessions run from two days to three days for basic and advance levels to a couple of hours for a refresher course at minimal costs. But the most important tip for responding to an emergency: Keep Calm.
Winnie Parchue
“Always keep calm but you gotta be prepared. An emergency can happen anytime, any date, any where and whilst you come and you get yourself skilled, you come to get your first aid training, the skills that you’re gonna learn during training, you will always be prepared to administer first aid in whichever situation you are in.” CH5

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