St John Ambulance Cymru shares top festive first aid tips.

As we prepare for the festive season, St John Ambulance Cymru is reminding people that learning some basic first aid could help to treat common minor injuries at home.

First aid can help prevent unnecessary hospital trips, easing pressure on our NHS, and ensure that families can enjoy Christmas safely. In an emergency, basic first aid skills can also mean the difference between life and death.

Richard Paskell, Chief Volunteer at St John Ambulance Cymru, said: “Having the confidence to deal with situations such as choking or cardiac arrest, can help avoid a tragedy, making sure that all the memories made this festive season are happy ones. In more serious cases knowledge of basic first aid, and the confidence to use it, can save lives.

Knowing how to treat minor injuries at home can also help to ease pressure on our hospitals at a busy time. No one wants to end up in hospital, especially at Christmas, and so we’re urging everyone to remind themselves of some basic first aid and makes sure that their first aid kits are up to date.”

Here are some of St John Ambulance Cymru’s top festive first aid tips:

If an adult or child (a child is defined as anyone over the age of one) is choking you should encourage the casualty to keep coughing, this could allow them to simply cough out the obstruction. If this doesn’t work slap it out by giving FIVE sharp back blows between the shoulder blades. Check their mouth each time. If this fails you should move on to give FIVE abdominal thrusts, checking their mouth after each one. If the obstruction does not dislodge you should call 999 and repeat the back blows and abdominal thrusts until the emergency services arrive.

For a choking baby (birth to one-year-old) the procedure is slightly different. You should initially attempt back blows by lying the baby face down along your thigh, supporting their head, before giving FIVE back blows between their shoulder blades. You should turn them over and check their mouth each time . If back blows do not dislodge the obstruction you should give FIVE sharp chest thrusts, using two fingers NOT YOUR WHOLE HAND. After each thrust you should check the mouth. If the item does not dislodge, call 999/112 for emergency help. Never leave the baby unattended, and makes sure to repeat back blows and abdominal thrusts while you wait for medical help to arrive.

A cardiac arrest happens when someone’s heart stops. If someone has become unresponsive and they are not breathing normally they could be in cardiac arrest and you need to act quickly. In this situation your first step must ALWAYS be to call 999 or 112 for emergency before starting CPR, using a defibrillator if available. Do not leave the casualty at any point. To give CPR begin with 30 chest compressions followed by two rescue breaths. Repeat this pattern until help arrives. If you don’t feel confident or comfortable delivering rescue breaths, then continue chest compressions.

If a defibrillator is available ask a helper to switch on the defibrillator and apply pads while you continue CPR. Follow the voice prompts given by the defibrillator and remember to stand back when shock is advised. If the casualty becomes responsive put them in the recovery position, leave the defibrillator pads attached and monitor their response level.
If someone is unresponsive, but breathing, putting them in the recovery position will help to maintain their airway. Make sure to reassure them, keep them warm and check for any other injuries. DO NOT MAKE THEM SICK.

To put someone in the recovery position place their nearest arm at a right angle to their body with the elbow bent. Then place the back of their far hand against their cheek and hold it there. Pull the knee farthest away from you up until their foot is flat 

Pull on the bent leg to roll them towards you and tilt their head back to open airway. If you’re unsure about how serious their condition is then call 999 or 112 for medical help
Richard explains. “Obviously, we hope that nobody ever needs to use first aid skills like CPR, especially on a family member during the festive season, but we hope that by reminding people of the basics we can continue to keep communities across Wales safe.”