By the author of How to Prep When You’re Broke and Beyond the Prepper Stockpile
We’ve talked about the medical supplies you should stash away. We’ve talked about the skills you need to develop so you can use those supplies. But there’s a ton of medical advice on the internet that is just terrible, as this video with two professional paramedics discussing first aid myths shows.
It’s important to note that giving the wrong first aid treatment can sometimes be more harmful than no treatment at all. It’s important that you call 911 if you can. Their operators are trained to help callers remain calm and to walk them through the correct steps.
First things first, remain calm.
Remaining calm is of the utmost importance, as Selco noted in this article with a video of an example of terrible first aid. It’s perfectly natural to be adrenalized in a first aid situation, but with the proper training, you can put that adrenaline to good use.
Without undermining those folks’ wish to help, it must be said that they overreacted in treating a wound that looked absolutely like a wound that does not require the use of a tourniquet.
In the survival movement (and not only there), a tourniquet is seen as a magical device that saves lives, and that almost should be used whenever blood occurs.
In reality, the explanation when you should use a tourniquet is very simple – whenever you can not stop the bleeding in any other way. The bleeding in the video looks like it could have been stopped by good old direct pressure without any problems. However cool the use of the tourniquet may look, there is (or there should be) common sense in using it.
Again, you use it when you can not stop massive bleeding in any other way because by using the tourniquet for example, on a leg like in the video, you are obstructing blood flow to the leg. From the point of application of the tourniquet, in other words, the leg is not getting blood and eventually, it will “die”.
That is the reason why you should use it only when other means are not stopping massive bleeding. You use a tourniquet only in life-threatening situations.
Now, you as a prepper add to the fact that in the world without a running system (and hospitals) you should be extra careful when to use it, because “help is on the way” might not be an option. By applying an unneeded tourniquet on the leg, for example, you might turn a small wound into a situation when complicated surgical procedures might be needed.
Remaining calm will allow you to think clearly and help the victim. The more training you have, the more likely you are to remain calm.
12 First Aid Myths
Luckily, most people who have taken recent First Aid courses know that these myths are false. However, the last time I had to take a family member into the hospital for a concussion (just a couple of years ago), the doctor told us to wake her up every hour or so.
Check out these first aid myths.
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Are you missing any important supplies or skills?
I’m up-to-date on my first aid training and have most of the items they mentioned, except for the defibrillator. They’re pretty expensive additions to your medical kit. (The type they showed us how to use in the video is about $1400 and prices just go up from there.) If I had a family member with heart problems, had the budget, and lived in a place where the ambulance wouldn’t reach us in time, I would invest in one.
Here are some articles related to what they talked about plus a few other important pieces of first aid knowledge
- how to help someone with a concussion
- learning how to stop bleeding
- cold injuries
- first aid for choking
- how to clean a wound
- how to use Narcan on an overdose victim
- how to diagnose and treat heat illness and injury
- first aid for burns
- how to treat a snakebite
- first aid for stab wounds
- how to perform CPR
- first aid for a seizure
Make sure you keep a physical copy of a good first aid manual like this – it’s a really good price, too.
Did you believe any of these first aid myths?
Were any of these first aid myths a surprise to you? Did you believe them previously? Are there any myths or common misconceptions you want to add? Share your thoughts about first aid myths in the comments.
