First Aid

Key points:

• The basics come in order: check breathing, then bleeding, then shock.
• If a broken back or neck is suspected, do not move the casualty unless their life is in immediate danger. Movement may cause permanent paralysis or death.
• To stop bleeding the manual works up through a field dressing, manual pressure and a pressure dressing, and treats the tourniquet as a last resort (see below for how this has changed).
• Assume shock is present or will follow. Signs include cool, clammy skin, a weak and rapid pulse, pale or bluish skin, restlessness, thirst, confusion and fast breathing.
• Splint a fracture before moving the casualty, immobilizing the joints above and below the break.
• Heatstroke is a medical emergency that can kill if care is delayed.

Who it's for: anyone who wants to understand the order of priorities in first aid, not only the steps.

How to use it: the opening chapters set the order: check breathing, stop the bleeding, prevent shock. Read those first. Later chapters cover fractures, heat and cold injuries, bites and stings, and moving a casualty, and Appendix A lists what belongs in a first aid kit.

What has changed: published in 2002. It treats the tourniquet as a last resort, while current bleeding-control training (Stop the Bleed, and the military's own) teaches early tourniquet use for life-threatening limb bleeding. CPR guidance has also been revised. Use it for the reasoning, and take a current course for the technique.