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At any time, you or someone you love could experience a medical emergency. Even if someone is in apparent good health, accidents happen, and sometimes, the effects can be life-threatening. In these cases, people who don't feel confident that they know the proper emergency response often panic and fail to provide the care necessary to help someone in need of assistance. It is crucial that people become informed about what to do in case of an emergency such as bleeding, a broken bone, or even something as serious as choking or a heart attack: With this knowledge, you can confidently act to help someone experiencing a medical emergency and maybe even save a life.
First Aid and CPR
Every year, around 383,000 people go into cardiac arrest without warning while they are not in a hospital. Would you know what to do if one of these people was a friend or loved one of yours? It is important that all people learn skills like CPR in order to possibly save a life: Only 32 percent of those who suffer cardiac arrest get CPR, and without it, the odds of their survival are very low. But heart attacks aren't the only threat to people's health for which you should be prepared. One never knows when someone close to you might have a seizure, or break a bone, or cut themselves badly and experience severe bleeding. In any of these cases, it's important that someone be able to administer prompt first aid in order to ensure the health and safety of the victim. With training, you can also protect yourself from injury or illness due to bloodborne pathogens while helping someone who needs medical assistance.
- How to Administer First Aid: The Mayo Clinic provides a list of possible medical emergencies with information about what you should do in each case.
- Avoiding Bloodborne Pathogens During First Aid: Worcester Polytechnic Institute gives tips on how to prevent exposure to bloodborne pathogens in the workplace.
- Fire Education, Safety, and First Aid: Find many resources about fire departments and fire safety on the Lower Frederick Fire Company's site.
- First Aid and Emergencies: WebMD offers an index of first aid topics and information on what to do in an emergency.
- Lightweight First Aid Kit: Put together your own first aid kid using the items in this checklist.
- Firefighting and CPR Resources: The Wheat Ridge Fire Protection District's website provides links to more information on firefighting, fire safety, and CPR certification.
- Child First Aid and Safety: Parents can get information about how to keep their child safe and how to handle a medical emergency here.
- Fire Rescue Equipment and Training: Learn more about firefighters, fire departments, their equipment, and CPR training on this page.
- Choking First Aid: On this page, find out how to do the Heimlich maneuver, which could save the life of a choking victim.
- Hands-Only CPR: Check, Call, Compress (video): The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center has provided this video on how to do chest-compression-only resuscitation
- Wilderness Survival and First Aid Skills: On this page, you can find out more about the skills you need to know to survive on your own in the wilderness.
- Online Medical and CPR Training: The Delaware Healthcare Association provides information on how medical professionals can keep up their training and certifications online.
- CPR Training and Injury Prevention: Find out how to be prepared for an emergency and prevent people from getting hurt here.
- First Aid For Seizures: Learn what to do if someone has a seizure on this page.
- Emergency First Aid and Medical References: This page contains a variety of resources on responding to and being prepared for medical emergencies.
- Disaster Response Information: The Dover City Fire Department offers a list of sources for information on firefighting, disaster response agencies, and coping with a medical crisis.
- Public Safety and CPR: Learn about fire protection, public health and safety, and how to be prepared for a medical emergency here.
- Safety and First Aid for Kids: Kids can do their part to be prepared for an emergency by learning more about fire safety and what to do if someone is hurt.
- Fire Safety for Kids and Parents: Here, children and their parents can find resources about what to do in case of a fire or another threat to someone's safety.
- Guide to Prevention and Control of Bloodborne Pathogens During Workplace First Aid (PDF): This document examines the ways that people can protect themselves from disease while helping a coworker during a medical crisis.
Pet First Aid and CPR
Medical emergencies don't just happen to humans: Our beloved pets could also find themselves in need of prompt care. Animals might choke on something they ingested without your knowledge, fall into a swimming pool and drown, or get into a fight with another animal and come home battered and bleeding. There are myriad ways in which a pet's health can be endangered, and some of the same medical crises that affect humans can affect animals, too, such as heart attacks or seizures. Therefore, if you own a pet, it's important that you learn the skills to intervene in case of a possibly life-threatening situation.
- CPR for Cats and Dogs: The University of Washington School of Medicine offers this quick guide to pet CPR.
- Animal Wellness Resources: The Central Pennsylvania Animal Alliance offers sources for information on animal welfare.
- First Aid, CPR, and Emergency Care for Cats: The ASPCA offers advice on how to help your cat when it needs emergency care.
- Make Your Own Pet First Aid Kit (PDF): Learn about what you need to put together to be prepared for a pet medical emergency here.
- First Aid for Great Danes: This page by a chocolate Dane breeder contains information on medical problems that dogs can face and what to do if they happen.
- Pet First Aid: Are you prepared in the event that your pet needs medical care? Read here to learn what you should know.
- Golden Retriever Ownership Tips: Find out about owning a dog and what you need to do to ensure that it is healthy and well-trained.
- Pet Care, First Aid, and CPR: On this page, pet owners can learn about how to keep their animals healthy and safe.
- First Aid for Choking Dogs (PDF): If your dog swallows something it shouldn't have, it can lead to a scary situation. Learn what to do here.
- Caring for Greyhounds: Greyhound Pets of Arizona provides information about this breed of dog and various things you might need to know in order to keep one as a pet.
- Build a Pet First Aid Kit: The Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine offers advice on how to be prepared in case your pet has a medical emergency.
- Canine Health and First Aid Sources: This site offers a variety of resources on taking care of a dog and keeping it healthy.
- Dog Health and First Aid: If your dog is injured or poisoned or has a chronic health issue, learn more about what to do for it here.
- Jack Russell Terrier Information, CPR, First Aid, and More: On this page, find a variety of resources about this breed of dog and how to care for them.
- First Aid For Pets (PDF): Read this document to learn tips that could save an animal's life.
- Dog Care Resources: Learn more about canine massage and taking care of a dog here.
- Everything You Need to Raise a Dog: Find out all about getting a dog, training it, keeping it healthy, and more here.
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