Child & Teen Health Archive

This list describes your priorities in an emergency situation. Follow these steps:

1. Evaluate the scene to protect yourself and others from injury or danger.
2. Be calm and reassuring.
3. Do not move the person unless he or she is in imminent danger or unless you cannot provide assistance without moving the person.
4. Get help. Call out for someone to phone 911 or, if the person does not need immediate assistance, make the call yourself.
5. If the situation is a choking emergency, perform the Heimlich maneuver (see Choking).
6. Look, listen, and feel for breathing (see Breathing Difficulties).
7. Feel for a pulse to determine if the heart is beating.
8. Control bleeding with direct pressure.
9. Treat for shock.
10. If the person is unconscious, move him or her into the recovery position.

If you are called on to help deliver a baby, remember that childbirth is a natural process and that your role is to assist the woman and offer encouragement. If a woman's contractions are very strong and 2 to 3 minutes apart or the water bag (amniotic sac) has broken, birth is very near. If the woman tells you that the birth will happen very soon, believe her.

You will see quite a bit of blood, which is normal. You may see bloody fluid coming from the vagina before and during the birth; this is also normal.

Bleeding

While a minor cut will eventually stop bleeding, a severe injury may require elevation and direct pressure on the wound. The goals of first-aid treatment are to control bleeding and prevent infection. If disposable surgical gloves are readily available, use them.

Butterfly Bandages

Direct Pressure for Bleeding and Pressure Points for Bleeding

How to Stop a Nosebleed

Removing a Stuck Ring