What is a First Aiders Role and Responsibilities?

So, what actually is First Aid?

Simply put, First Aid is, the initial aid administered to a sick or injured person. This initial assistance is given prior to the arrival of qualified medical professionals, (Including nurses, doctors, or paramedics.), and until the medical professional takes over.

First Aid techniques should be easy to administer, easy to remember but crucially be highly effective.

The main aims of First Aid are to:

• Preserve Life

• Preventing the condition from worsening

• Promoting recovery.

As a first aider, it is essential that you understand what your roles and responsibilities are. These include:

1 Assess the situation-

• Look at the situation and react calmly and quickly

• Identify the number of casualties

• Try identify to the injury or illness, looking for symptoms and signs

• Reassure the casualty

2 Protect the casualty and yourself

• Protect yourself, the casualty, and bystanders from further danger

• Do NOT move the casualty unless their life is under threat or circumstances change

• Deal with ongoing dangers using a dynamic risk assessment

3 Contact the emergency services

• Either contact the emergency services yourself OR are there bystanders who could go?

• If you use bystanders, you will need to them sufficiently and you MUST ensure they return to update you.

• Stay with the casualty if at all possible, until help arrives

4 Prioritise the treatment of casualties-

• Always treat life-threatening conditions first

• Prioritize multiple casualties dealing with life-threatening conditions first

5 Minimise infection-

• Wash hands thoroughly before and after

• Wear latex-free disposable gloves

• Cover your open wounds

• Ensure that only in-date, sterile dressings are used

• Change gloves in between casualties- do not use the same gloves on multiple casualties

6 Casualty communication

• Speak clearly and slowly, giving the casualty time to think and understand

• Be honest- but only to a point

• Use appropriate eye contact

• Remember to reinforce words with positive body language

• Do not use medical jargon or abbreviations

6 Cleaning up-

• Clean up body fluids

• Put used PPE into yellow clinical waste bags

• Wash the area thoroughly after

• Restock the first aid box

7 Recording and reporting

• Record incidents accurately

• Report incidents

• Maintain casualty's confidentiality

What are the role and responsibilities of a first aider?

Dynamo Training Solutions provide comprehensive training on all first aid-related topics. We deliver first-aid training courses throughout London, Kent, and the Southeast. Dynamo Training Solutions Simple Guide to What is a First Aiders Role and Responsibilities? is one of a series of Dynamo Training Solutions Simple Guide to first aid series.