April 27, 2020 in Blog, Safety

Emergency First Aid Facts-PPE

Emergency First Aid Fact # 1

There are a lot of myths out there regarding emergency first aid treatment. Every culture and family have their own remedies for anything that ails you. Our new series of 1001 first aid facts will reveal research-based essentials of what needs to be done. You may ask, “Do I lift this bleed?”, “Do I tie off a snake bite?” or “What do I do if my child is choking?”.

Today is the first day that we will address some of your questions with our emergency first aid fact. The video found below goes through emergency first aid facts about PPE or personal protective equipment used when preforming first aid. 

 

 

No PPE needed

At one time there was no such thing as PPE. Then researchers found disease such as HIV, Hepatitis B and C, SARS, MERS, Ebola and now COVID –19.  Gloves and masks only used during surgery to protect the patient has now made their way into everyday healthcare. To prevent professional caregivers from contracting these diseases PPE is mandatory in most healthcare work settings and has been for the last 30 years. Yet it is believed that during this current COVID 19 pandemic one in ten healthcare workers are still contracting the disease even with the use of PPE. 

This leads to many a person asking, “If a professional has to use PPE and still get ill how can I a first aide stay safe?”. Great question. I’ll do my best to answer it. 

First aiders do not find themselves performing first aid in one year, as often as a professional will in one shift. Although we must still be diligent when removing used first aid equipment such as bloody gauze, tape and gloves. We hope that this video will remind you of the precautions you need to take every time you perform first aid. 

If you have questions, feel free to contact me by email or phone any time 

 

 

One in ten healthcare

Health Canada

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