Providing First Aid When Help is Miles Away

In a previous blog, we discussed the importance of having tourniquets at your worksites. The need for these and other life-saving devices cannot be understated. Yet equipment is useless if people don’t know how to use them. The Greek poet Archilochus once wrote, “We don’t rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training.”

If we have not properly trained for medical emergencies, when the time arrives to care for co-workers, there will not be any skill to lean on at the most critical time. The stress, emotional weight, and urgency quickly create an environment where individuals do nothing but panic.

Preparing Your Team

Learning the skills to recognize life-threatening bleeding, lack of breathing and serious trauma is vital for any business. Yet it is especially important for construction businesses that work in remote locations far from cities and towns.

Some states require at least one employee at each job site to be trained and prepared to provide first aid treatment in emergencies. He or she must be present at the job site, and employees should be aware of who the designated person is. Yet additional team members must also have training should this person be away or experiences an emergency himself.

The best practice is still avoiding risks that put a person in danger. Understanding what risks are present at a worksite provides the best opportunity for employees to avoid injury. This, combined with strong first aid training, gives your crew the best chance to save a colleague.

Several organizations offer such training:

First Aid/CPR/AED Training

• Stop The Bleed Course
• American Red Cross
• American Heart Association

Safety Training

• National Safety Council
• OSHA 10- and 30-Hour Courses
• Defensive Driving

Classes such as the OSHA 10-hour course for construction give employees a great start to understanding the dangers workers face in construction. I am available to teach OSHA 10-hour and OSHA 30-hour courses.