Before Help Arrives

Lack of first aid knowledge has cost many their lives. In countless situations, victims could have been saved if someone nearby knew just a few simple steps to take before help arrived. Many people think they have to be a doctor or health practitioner before they can save lives. However, the truth is that all you have to do is know the basic procedures. A few months ago, one of my hostel mates kicked the bucket. It was the first time I would witness such a terrible scene. I couldn’t even sleep that night. That evening, the hostel guys were on the field playing football. For some reason, I wasn’t interested in playing football. So, I spectated from afar. All of a sudden, one of the guys sat down on the field, and within seconds, he went down, with his head. At first, we all thought he was joking. So for a few seconds, no one did anything. When we saw that he was unresponsive, they all rushed to him. The commotion started and everyone was running helter-skelter. They poured water on him, but he still wasn’t responding. Swiftly, they carried him out of the field and took him to the hospital. When they got there, the doctor told them that he had already died.

According to the doctors, he was struggling to breathe and maybe, just maybe, he could have been saved if they had performed CPR rather than pouring water on him. We cannot blame anyone for what happened. But this is a reminder of the importance of basic first aid knowledge. There is a very thin line between life and death. A little knowledge applied at the right time can save someone from crossing over to the other side.

Thanks to my mom, who is a nurse, I know the basic first aid treatment. Growing up, my mom would always tell my siblings and I to pay extra attention to basic first aid treatment. She always made sure we were present whenever she treated her patients. There were times she even allowed us to do minor treatments. At the time, it was fun. But we didn’t know it would come to be useful in the future. During my second year, one of my friends sustained a serious cut on a football field. Another player hit him close to the eye with his elbow. The eye is a very delicate area. The flesh slightly beside the eye is very tender and that was where he was hit. It was a gory sight, and the blood just Wo silent stop gushing out.

I had the necessary things to stop the bleeding. My mom would never forget to give me gloves every semester. So, I put on my gloves, cut a chunk of cotton wool, and applied pressure on the cut to stop the bleeding. When the bleeding stopped, we took him to the hospital where he got stitched. Now, the question you should ask yourself is that if someone were to have a medical emergency beside you, would you be able to take the necessary steps before you get to the hospital just like I did?

I have heard many stories and seen videos of people who lost their lives because the people around them couldn’t perform basic first aid treatment. The one I still vividly remember is a video of a girl who got cut by one of her hostel mates. They were arguing, it got heated and the other girl brought out a knife and cut her. They didn’t know it was a big deal until she died.

Now that I think about it, I have actually never tried to perform CPR and that’s because I have never been in a situation that warranted it. However, I can boldly say that the basic first aid treatment I know can go a long way to save lives.

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Thanks for reading.