First Aid Accident & Emergency
Kids are most at risk of going under because they love to explore and are not yet able to understand how dangerous water is.
PREVENTION is the best cure!
We run over 4 CPR courses on the Gold Coast every week.
Follow these Steps in an Emergency
Written by Scott Whimpey | FAAE Director & Senior Facilitator
- DANGER for yourself and you’re children first. Get a drowning patient out of the water and place the patient on their side- Recovery position to drain excess water.
- Check for RESPONSE from the patient, if no response SEND for help or Call 000 or 112 from a mobile for emergency assistance, if the patient responds, check air ways and allow coughing in recovery position.
- If the patient is unresponsive, check AIRWAYS and BREATHING, clear the mouth and then check “alive” by looking for rise and fall of the chest, listening to the mouth and feeling the abdomen for rise and fall.
DON’T look for the pulse, it may still be there but it’s now pumping un-oxygenated blood due to water closing the airway.
- If the patient is not breathing, start CPR, 2 breaths and 30 COMPRESSIONS until breathing resumes or Medical professionals arrive with a DEFIBRILLATOR.
Tilt the head back and administer 2 breaths and then compress the chest 30 times, 1/3rd chest depth, about 2 per second.
If you’re patient is 12 months or under, keep the head in a neutral position with no head tilt, just puffs of breath should be given. - Research shows giving breaths and compressions to a non breathing drowned patient is an advantage as it pushes air into the lungs and this is put into the blood stream, reducing the risk of brain damage.
Varsity Lakes Sports House
