IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES:
In the book, it describes what your immediate priorities should be in an emergency situation. They are as follows:
- Restore breathing and heartbeat if absent
- Stop any bleeding
- Protect wounds and stabilize fractures or dislocations
- Treat for shock
(Courtley, 2012)
ABC:
ABC is an acronym that stands for “airway, breathing, circulation”. When you treat an injured person, you should check to see if their Airway is open, they are Breathing, and that there is a pulse or sign of Circulation.
RESCUE BREATHING: Adult & Infant
In the SEAL Survival Guide, Courtley explains that if an adult stops breathing (but still shows signs of circulation) you should call for EMS and begin rescue breathing. If a child or infant stops breathing but shows signs of circulation, you should perform recue breathing for two minutes, call for EMS and then resume recue breathing.
CPR:
If there is an adult who is not breathing and shows no signs of circulation, you should call for EMS. If an AED is available, you should begin to attach it to the victim, if not you should begin CPR. If there is a child who is not breathing and shows no signs of circulation, you should give CPR for two minutes immediately before then calling EMS, after which you should resume CPR (Courtley, 2012).
STOP THE BLEEDING:
“During catastrophes, accidents, and survival situations, expect to see blood.” (Courtley, 2012).
Bleeding requires immediate attention. If too much blood is lost, you will not survive. When you are in a situation where there is a lot of blood caused by an injury, you should first examine the body for signs of major bleeding (pools of blood, blood-soaked clothing).
Something explained in the book that I found very interesting was the fact that you can usually detect if there is major bleeding by color, because bright red splurting blood comes from arterial wounds while darker red bleeding is usually from smaller veins.
DRESSING THE WOUND:
As soon as the bleeding subsides, it is important to wrap and cover the wound and apply pressure. If the field and pressure dressings become soaked with blood, you should apply new dressings directly over the old ones. If none of this controls the bleeding, you should try to identify a nearby pressure point. If none of this works, the book describes the necessity for fashioning a tourniquet.
Prior to reading the book, I don’t think I have ever heard this word before. It is defined as any device that can be twisted and constricted tightly around a limb and above the wound to cut off blood flow to the area (Courtley, 2012). It is stressed that this should be used as a last resort. A tourniquet stops all circulation below where it is applied.
Once you have stopped bleeding and the person is breathing, you can take the time to do a more thorough physical exam. This includes identifying any other injuries that may also be life-threatening. You should look for fractures, dislocations, sprains etc.
SHOCK:
Shock is defined in the book as occurring when the circulatory system fails, resulting in an insufficient flow of oxygen to the vital organs. Some early warning signs to look for include:
-Sweaty but clammy skin
-Pale skin
-Restlessness
-Thirst
-Confusion
-Nausea
-Blotchy or blue-ish skin
I know from previous experiences that blue-ish skin often occurs with poor circulation, and I think that this is one of the best signs to look for because a lot of the other signs could be attributed to less serious conditions.
Having the person lie down on their back if these signs are present is a good way to prevent shock from occurring (Courtley, 2012).
Courtley, C. (2012). SEAL Survival Guide. New York, NY: Gallery Books
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