BLS Flashcards
What is the proper procedure for back blows?
- Stand behind the patient placing your arm across their chest to support them and have them lean forwards. 2. Using the heel of your dominant hand give 5 firm blows in a slightly upward direction between the scapulae
How do you assess airway obstruction?
Use a head tilt chin lift to open the airways incase of a tongue obstruction
Have a look in their mouth to see if anything is blocking the airway e.g. vomit, lego etc
What is the purpose of assessing patient circulation?
To asses the presence and severity of any bleeding.
How deep should you compress the chest wall in CPR?
5-6 cm
1/3 of the chest wall
What do you do depending on the outcome of assessing a patient’s breathing?
If breathing normally:
- Check for severe bleeding them place them in the recovery position and monitor breathing
If breaths are agonal:
- Continue with BLS and start CPR if they fall unconscious as agonal breaths are present in 40% of heart attack cases
If not breathing:
- Call 999/112
- Start CPR immediately
What should you do if the airway is obstructed?
If it is easy to remove e.g. tongue then do so
If it looks deeper then leave it
How do you position a patient in the recovery position?
- Kneel by the side of the patient
- Take the arm closest to you and place is above their head with their elbow at 90o
- Grasp the leg furthest from you and pull it up so their knee is bent with their foot still on the floor
- Take the arm furthest from you and bring it across their chest, placing the back of their hand on the cheek closest to you and holding it there
- Keeping the back of their hand on your cheek pull their knee until they have rolled towards you
- Rest this leg in front of the body
- Raise their chin and tilt their head back making sure their mouth is pointed slightly downwards
- Ensure they’re breathing normally
How do you assess danger?
- Check the surroundings e.g. in the middle of a street, next to a fire etc 2. Check for harmful objects e.g. needles or broken glass around the body 3. Pay attention to the number of people in need of help - keep in mind the possibility of a mass harm causing event like a gas leak.
What’s the first step in treating a choking patient?
Ask them if they’re choking Assess the severity of the airway obstruction by asking them to try and cough. If they can cough then keep encouraging them to and don’t intervene anymore unless they stop being able to cough If they can’t cough then begin intervention
How do you check for responsiveness?
- Project your voice very loudly saying “Hello, can you hear me?” 2. Give the patient a command e.g. “Open your eyes” 3. Squeeze the patients descending trapezius to elicit a pain response
How do you use the AED?
- Remove all obstructive clothing and shave excessive hair over the areas of skin required
- Press the clearly defined button to initiate the AED
- Follow the AED instructions
Explain what you do when administering CPR to a pregnant woman
Something must be placed under the right side of the woman to displace the uterus to the left
This is done so that the uterus itsn’t compressing the inferior vena cava which would decrease venous return.
When should you halt CPR?
- A senior health professional tells you to stop
- You become exhausted - get a bystander to take over
- The patient has been resuscitated - place in recovery position if un-responsive
- Verbal instructions from the AED
What are the steps for a primary survey of a patient?
Danger Response Shout for help Airway Breathing Circulation
When would you put a patient in the recovery position?
If they are:
- Unconscious
- Breathing
- Have no known spinal injuries
How to you help a baby choking?
- Rest the baby along your non-dominant arm, face down with its head tilted downwards - holding its head in a ‘thinking pose’
- Use the heel of your dominant hand to deliver 5 back thrusts between the scapulae
- Turn the baby over so its back is resting along your arm - supporting its head
- Use 2 fngers to deliver 5 shard ‘thrusts’ to the baby’s chest
- repeat
How do you perform artificial ventilation?
- Head-tilt chin-lift
- Pinch the nostrils
- Place your mouth around the patients and ensure a tight seal is formed between your mouth and the patient’s mouth
- Blow a breath so the chest rises for 1 second
- Release the nose
- Observe breathing
- Do another breath if still not breathing
What physical intervention is required for someone with a severe airway obstruction?
- Five back blows 2. Five abdominal thrusts 3. Ask them if they can cough 4. If airway still obstructed then repeat
How do you assess a patient’s circulation?
- Feel for bleeding
- Control any bleeding with a gloved hand, dressing or clothing
Where should the electrodes of the AED be placed in a child?
On the front and back of the chest
Where should the electrodes of the AED be placed in an adult?
- On the right of the sternum below the clavicle
- Left mid-axillary line below the breast
What should you do when you call for help?
Give very specific instructions to each passer-by to avoid the bystander effect One to ring an ambulance and one or more to find an AED.
What is the proper rate of compressions per minute?
100-120 compressions per minute
To the tune of ‘staying alive’
What is the proper procedure for abdominal thrusts?
- Stand directly behind the patient and wrap your arms around them just below the transpyloric plane 2. Make a fist with your dominant hand and position it in the midline between the umbilicus and the xiphoid 3. Place your other hand on top of your fist 4. Pull your fist firmly inwards and upwards
What is the difference in CPR from children to adults?
- Five rescue breaths should be given before starting chest compressions
- The ratio of compressions to breaths is 15:2
- On a very small child use 2 fingers to compress chest
Where are AEDs found?
- Shopping centres
- Tube stations
- Schools
- Public institutions
When should CPR be interrupted if using an AED?
- Shouldn’t be stopped even when applying the electrodes
- Only stop when instructed to by the AED or when it says “analysing rhythm2 of the patient
- Shout “everyone stand clear of the patient”
What is an AED?
Automated external defibrillators
How do you assess a patient’s breathing?
- Maintain head-tilt chin-lift
- Bring face down to the patients face so your cheek is just above the patient’s nose and mouth with your eyes looking to their chest
- Feel for breath on your cheek, listen for the sounds of breathing and look for the chest rising and falling
This must be done for 10 seconds
Why is CPR done?
To manually preserve brain function until further measures can be taken to return spontaneous circulation and flow for someone in cardiac arrest
Describe the key techniques in effective CPR
- Heel of your dominant hand in the midline lower half of the sternum
- Place the heel of your other hand on top of your dominant hand and interlock your fingers
- Maintain fully straight arms and place your shoulders directly above your arms and the patient’s sternum to ensure you use your body weight
- Don’t detach your hands after each compression but do make sure you fully decompress
- Perform 30 chest compressions followed by 2 rescue breaths then repeat
How do you assess patient’s circulation?
Place your hand on various parts of the body to see for blood
Anterior side:
- Chest
- Abdomen
- Lower limb
- Upper limb
- head (particularly hair)
Posterior side:
- Back
- Flanks
- Head
