Premergency First Aid, CPR and AED Manual

3 Airway and Breathing

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Difficulty Breathing due to Illness Assessment and First Aid Scene Assessment - Scene Safety Activate 911 / Get Help / Get First Aid Kit / Get AED Primary Assessment • Assess patient history and vital signs • Give First Aid for patient’s condition • Position patient to make breathing easier. Loosen tight clothing around the neck, chest, and waist. Ongoing Care/Transport • Provide care for shock • Monitor patient’s airway and breathing • Be prepared to provide CPR if breathing becomes ineffective or ceases Hand-Off and Documentation ABC’s - Treat Life Threats Secondary Assessment

First Aider in Action: Part 3 Quickly assessing the scene, you ask your coworkers to clear the area around Cindy. You see her red and watery eyes, and her colour is slightly flushed. She holds an inhaler and sits in the tripod position. Cindy tells you that she is having an asthma attack. She has taken two doses from her inhaler, but it isn’t working as well as it normally does. Quickly running through the SAMPLE questions, you learn that Cindy is allergic to tree pollen and takes allergy medicine every spring. She had felt fine all day prior to the attack that began about 10 minutes ago. Her heart rate is 82 and steady. Her breathing is 16 per minute and a little deeper than normal.

Is Cindy’s breathing effective? What can you do to help her?

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