First aid field guide

[Lumpy]

As an ex-law enforcement officer (LEO), I will simply say that the vast majority of LEOs do not have any more training than CPR/AED and FA. What they do have that is very useful in an emergency is their radio communications, which in the case of a dislocated finger really isn't needed, especially under the circumstances stated above.

If any of you have a smart phone, look in your associated app store for iTriage. Information from medical experts about how to handle injuries and illnesses. Updated frequently, it can help provide info that can help you or others. Highly recommended.

As has been said already, NEVER do anything above your specific level of training unless it may be the only thing that could save a persons LIFE or prevent further injury. Good Sam laws may help you if what you did was to save a persons LIFE or prevent further injury, but will not cover you if you do something that goes beyond all common sense or you do something, even give an aspirin, to make someone more comfortable. See the distinction between life saving and more comfortable? It can be a little hard to explain without writing a long explanation about the difference. That is why training courses are so valuable to those that are interested in learning these things.

[renegadepilgrim]

As has been said already, NEVER do anything above your specific level of training unless it may be the only thing that could save a persons LIFE or prevent further injury. Good Sam laws may help you if what you did was to save a persons LIFE or prevent further injury, but will not cover you if you do something that goes beyond all common sense or you do something, even give an aspirin, to make someone more comfortable. See the distinction between life saving and more comfortable? It can be a little hard to explain without writing a long explanation about the difference. That is why training courses are so valuable to those that are interested in learning these things.

If someone is having chest pain and you give them aspirin, you just might be saving their life...though I know the point you were trying to make, I could equally argue the other side...as I said before, if you practice within your scope, you should be fine...so if it's just First Aid, then that's what you do, no matter how many episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" you've watched.

[retired jerry]

This isn't a good place to get medical advice, but

If someone is having a bleeding type stroke then you don't want to do an aspirin

If someone is having a blockage type stroke or heart attack, then you want to take an aspirin

How can you tell the difference? Or is a bleeding type stroke unusual enough to not worry about?

[Charley]

I took the Wilderness Medicine Institute (NOLS) WFR course this summer here in Portland. I highly recommend it. We were told not to practice anything we hadn't been trained to do. If I hadn't taken the course, taking a first aid guide and trying to treat someone based on what's written in it might actually be a little risky, legally. If I haven't had any training, I'd be practicing something I hadn't been trained to do, right? That said, a first aid guide sits in my first aid kit, and it's an important part of it. If you're only interested in having the guide for use with people who you are certain won't ever sue you (especially your heirs!), it seems like it might be useful.

(Specifically I remember them saying that reducing a dislocation is something better left for professionals, unless there is no other option; in this case, since the patient's mobility wasn't impaired, he could have been evacuated to definitive medical care without me, the WFR, having to take the risk of reducing the dislocation badly; in short, a hypothetically WFR-certified jdemott would likely have been considered Good Sam legal not to have tried reducing that dislocation, assuming he rendered the other recommended assistance.)

[EMTStolz]

Only give aspirin to someone whom you suspect is having a heart attack. Outside of a hospital setting, there is no way to tell if a stroke is caused by a blood clot or from a bleed, so it is best not to give aspirin to someone who is suffering from a stroke.

[retired jerry]

What are symptoms of heart attack, vs stroke?

[EMTStolz]

Symptoms of a heart attack include:
Chest pain
Pressure, heaviness or tightness in the chest
Pain or pressure in the neck or jaw
Pain or pressure in one or both arms (usually the left)
Shortness of breath
Sweating
Nausea


Symptoms of a stroke include:
Numbness or weakness of face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body.
Difficulty speaking.
Trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
Difficulty walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination
Sudden severe headache with no known cause.

[retired jerry]

Thanks

Those are fairly easy to distinguish