What should I do before the ambulance arrives?

First of all, you need to really assess your first aid capabilities. Because if, as a result of incorrect or thoughtless actions, the patient or the victim becomes worse, this can lead to a significant deterioration in the course of the disease in the future. Do not forget that the basic rule of any intervention is "Do no harm!".

First of all, this refers to the apparent urgent need to remove the victim from the interior of an emergency vehicle in a traffic accident. By underestimating the volume and severity of the traumatic injury, you can significantly worsen the condition of the victim, often posing a threat to the health of the caregiver due to the risk of fire and explosion of an emergency vehicle when fuel is spilled. However, if you are convinced of the adequacy of actions in relation to a specific situation, it is necessary to carry out a number of measures aimed at stabilizing the condition of the victim before the arrival of the ambulance team. First of all, it is stopping or reducing bleeding, restoring airway patency, and immobilizing injured limbs. It must be remembered that in any case, it is advisable to apply a tourniquet above the site of damage. If you are using medications, you must first find out if the victim is allergic to any drugs. If the victim is the driver of a car involved in an accident, alcohol-containing drugs such as valocordin, corvalol should not be used, as their use may give reason to traffic police officers to assume alcohol consumption by the victim.

To immobilize the limbs, you can use improvised materials such as magazines, cardboard boxes, car mats, they can be secured with tape, electrical tape, fragments of clothing, seat belts, which can also be used as a hemostatic tourniquet.

It must be remembered that before carrying out the above measures, it is necessary to inform as many operational services as possible about the incident: 01, 02, 03 for their early arrival at the scene.

If you have moved the victim, or he is outside the car, it is necessary to give him a position that makes it as easy as possible for him to bear the injury. If possible, this is the position of the victim on his side with bent legs. If there are chest injuries with signs of respiratory failure (shortness of breath), a sitting position is optimal.

If the injury is caused by a fall from a height, the optimal solution is to take no action other than notifying the emergency services, since any attempt to change the patient's position can lead to fatal consequences for him due to the risk of additional injury to vital body structures, primarily the spinal cord. In this situation, the only measure available to a layman is to stop or reduce external bleeding.

In case of burns, it is strictly forbidden to resort to the common practice of lubricating the burn surface with various oils, while creating a greenhouse effect that deepens the lesion. The method of choice for thermal and chemical burns is to wash the burn surface with plenty of cold water.

In case of sudden loss of consciousness, it is necessary to make sure that the patient has a pulse and independent breathing. In their absence, you should immediately begin resuscitation measures, not forgetting to first free the oral cavity from foreign objects such as dentures, food residues, etc. Otherwise, your actions will be, at least, ineffective. Heart medications such as nitroglycerin should not be given to the patient, as there are certain indications for its use.

Some first aid schemes for patients and injured.