An emergency won’t come knocking on your door or asking for your permission; it can come upon you at any time.
It’s critical to learn survival first aid skills so you are prepared for whatever comes.
Stopping a crisis from happening is not in your hands but taking quick, effective measures is something you can do.
Knowing about first aid is necessary if there is a crisis worldwide and medical professionals are not readily available to rescue you from your pain.
It is difficult to point out a single sure problem that you will encounter as it can change from person to person, but the location, lifestyle, and climatic conditions can help you prepare better.
This article will prepare and educate you with all the information you might need to save your or someone else’s life.
Table of Contents
Initial Emergency Action Steps
It is vital to not panic during an emergency. Your first instinct is to panic as a human being, which will not help you or anyone who is with you. Stay calm and collected while your brain figures out a plan to tackle an emergency.
We will give you a brief introduction about first aid but consider taking a first aid training course because nothing is better than a real-life experience training guided by professionals.
Redcross.org has a wide variety of classes to choose from. They also offer online courses for distance learners or anyone who wants to learn online.
If you decide to venture out in the wild, consider investing your time in NOLS.edu for a wilderness medicine course.
Essential Survival First Aid Skills To Learn
Remembering three C’s
Check
Checking is the first step before you start helping others or yourself. Evaluate the situation by checking the patient, environment, surrounding danger before rushing to the scene.
If there is an emergency of bone fracture because someone slipped, make sure you check the ground before running to help them. See if there is water or oil, and be careful as you move towards them.
You don’t want to injure yourself.
Call
Your first instinct should be to dial out to 911 as soon as you can in emergencies. It is the job of a first responder. Inform the professionals about the scene and the victim’s condition.
Care
Your duty doesn’t end till a professional is in charge of the situation. You have to take care of the person and tend to his needs. Check his breathing; if the victim is losing a lot of blood, try to stop the bleeding.
You might even need to perform CPR.
Three P’s of first aid
Preserve life
Try to preserve life by giving appropriate treatment to the injured person. See that there is no disturbance in the airway. Hold them in a position that won’t pain the injured person.
Give CPR if the person needs it. In this step, you have to do all the basic first aid beneficial for the injured person.
Prevent deterioration
It is a step after you have done your first aid. Their condition should not worsen, so take measures to prevent that. Settle them to a safer location, keep them hydrated and stabilize them.
Promote recovery
Promote recovery focuses on the recovery of the injured person. You can do this by providing comfort, encouraging them, and keeping their mind distracted till the medical professionals arrive.
CPR
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is an essential skill you can learn in first aid. CPR is the first step for any cardiac arrest attack. Learning how to do it properly will help you save others’ lives.
Chest compression
Learn if the person is breathing or has some difficulty in breathing. If the victim has stopped breathing, press the heel of your hand on the victim’s chest but make sure your hand is in the middle.
Start compressing the chest; 2 inches deep is an excellent deep compression. Let the chest recoil before giving your next compression.
Once you have started, keep a minimum of 100 pushes per minute. A little snapping and popping at the beginning are normal, don’t stop and keep doing it.
Rescue breathing
Give your victim breath after 30 compressions, and for that, you should tilt the head and lift the chin.
Make a seal over the injured person’s mouth by keeping your mouth on top of it and pinch the nose to stop the air from gushing out.
Give the person a big breath to make their chest rise. Avoid giving excessive big breaths. Let the chest fall and start with the breath again.
If the chest isn’t rising, you can reposition the victim’s head to a certain angle and try again.
Repeat chest compression
Repeat 30 compressions after the rescue breathing.
Repeat rescue breathing
- Start giving two more rescue breaths.
- Keep doing both one after another.
- Keep doing chest compression and rescue breathing for another two minutes, which will come to two rescue breaths and five cycles of chest compressions.
Monitor for response
If the victim slowly starts to breathe on their own, you can stop the CPR and let the person breathe, but if that’s not the case, keep doing until you see a moment.
Heimlich Maneuvering
It is useful when someone is choking, and there is a piece of food that is stuck inside, causing them trouble while breathing. You let the person know you are helping.
It will allow them to know you are going to help the victim.
Grab them from the back, find their belly button with your pinky, roll your hand up, so the thumb is on the stomach, and then you thrust in and up.
Apply a little pressure but not too much pressure as it may cause an injury. Keep doing this till they dislodge the piece and can breathe again.
Treating Shock
Shock happens when the victim’s brain doesn’t get enough oxygen. The body goes faint, and the skin gets dry and pale. Shock can occur for different medical results like blood loss, infection, etc.
To treat shock, lay the person on the ground and elevate their legs a little. If there is an injury to one leg, consider raising only one leg.
Keep them warm with a blanket. Never give the patient water even if they ask for it, leading to choking. If they start getting into trouble while breathing, start doing CPR to help them breathe.
The first aid methods from here can be quickly done by the injured person too if they are alone and no one is around them.
Making A Splint
A makeshift splint will help the injured person from more damage. It will act as a swaddle to rest the broken arm or leg. The goal is to tie a piece of cloth so that the injured part is not hanging or moving on its own.
You can take a piece of cloth and bring it under and over the arm in case of an arm injury, then tie both ends at the neck to support the arm.
This is a great survival first aid skill to master and practice ahead of time.
Dressing And Cleaning The Wounds
Getting cuts is a common injury but can cause infections if left unsupervised and may become a bigger problem. Start by looking at the cut and assess the size.
If it is a large cut, there will be lots of blood. Your number one priority will be to stop the blood from gushing out. Applying pressure works well in such situations.
After the blood stops, take an antiseptic wipe or liquid and start wiping the injury, it will sting, but that’s killing the germs on the wound. After cleaning, apply a bandage and use gauze to secure the dressing.
Make sure not to tie the gauze tightly.
Treating A Burn
First-degree burns are not severe; a loose gauze and topical remedies can work perfectly. Second-degree burns will be swollen, so run the wound under cool water and apply creams like the first-degree burns.
Third-degree burns can make the skin white and cause numbness. A doctor or medical professionals should treat these burns.
First Aid From The Kitchen
Sometimes herbal medicines work for small injuries, you can try a few simple recipes from the kitchen.
- For an upset tummy, try ginger, chamomile, or peppermint tea.
- Use onion slices on fresh bruises to remove discoloration and relieve pain.
- The raw grated potato should be used as a poultice to relieve swelling, swollen joints, and pain.
- Rubbing alcohol and Apple cider vinegar (with the mother in it) should be mixed in equal parts and used to treat ear infections.
- Hot milk with 4 to 5 pitted prunes and two tablespoons of honey can work well for a constipated stomach.
What To Include In A Survival First Aid Kit
Apart from the injuries mentioned above, a lot can happen if you are traveling and stranded in the wilderness. This list will give you an idea of what to include in a survival first aid kit.
Always pack according to your needs and medical conditions. If you are going out, the number of people and destination should also be kept in mind.
- Over-the-counter medicines for cuts, burns, and injuries
- Instant cold packs
- Safety pins- Use this for fastening bandages and splints.
- Gloves- To treat the patient without any germs.
- Breathing barrier for CPR
- Alcohol wipes and hand sanitizer
- Tweezers- To remove splinters or insect stingers.
- Thermometer
- Pain reliever and fever medication
- Anti-diarrhea tablet
- Antacid
- Dressings and bandages- pack a fair amount of sterile cotton pads, swabs, gauze roll.
- Hydrocortisone cream
- Anti-fungal cream
- Superglue- in the event of a deep cut, the glue will seal it shut until medical help comes.
- Hydrogen peroxide- This is ideal for disinfecting wounds.
Keep your trusty first aid kit easily accessible if you are in the house. This kit would be of no use if you have sprained your ankle, and the kit is in the top drawer.
Keep it where you can see. If you are traveling in the wilderness, pack things with multipurpose use. It will save space. Always use a waterproof box to keep everything fresh and dry.
Look at the expiry dates; change the first aid box every five years. There are many first aid kits available in the market, but we suggest making personalized medicines and tools in a custom kit.
Is It A Good Idea To Stockpile Medical Supplies?
Yes, there is nothing wrong with being prepared with a survival first aid kit. You cannot predict the future; what if there is a shortage of medical supplies?
What if there is a pandemic or your city is affected by natural calamity? During such times, stockpiled supplies come in handy. Stockpiling medicines is necessary for people who are living off-grid.
Always check the dates before bulk buying and keep checking the medicines and tools to see if they are expired.
You can stockpile the drugs in categories like pain and fever medicine, diarrhea medicine, wound and care medication, skin and allergy medications, Flu and cold medications, anti-biotics, and supplements.
Apart from the ingestible medication, make a list of items you use externally like gauze, sterile injections, etc.
It is important that you stay prepared for anything.
We hope our article helped you and covered all the basics of survival first aid. That said, always take a training course for one on one learning.
Don’t sit around; start making your survival first aid kit today!