Current Red Cross First Aid practice (in Canada at least) requires you to think about and act on the 3 Cs of First Aid. Use them with the 3 Ps & 4 Bs to guide care. Yes sometimes it does seem like we have an alphabet soup going on, but each approach compliments the others. So let’s consider – what are the 3 Cs of First Aid?
- Check
- Call
- Care
The 3 Cs of First Aid serve a variety of functions, but to me they contain two important messages: First, the ‘care’ – the bit people actually think of as ‘doing first aid’ is the last part of the process. There’s more to first aid than the active treatments. Secondly the 3 Cs of First Aid remind us that ‘check’ is the first thing to do. Just like when we use the Dr ABC method, the first thing there is (check for) Danger. Same as when we practice this in class. So let’s review the 3 Cs of First Aid in detail.
Check
The two important parts here are to check the person and to check the situation. This should be done first as you walk up. Is there any continuing danger? Including people, traffic, wildlife, rock-slides, avalanches, fires, fumes, electricity, etc. Then turn your attention to the person. Are they moving? Bleeding? Can they hear & respond to you? Is there a reason to ask them to keep still? Call out to them and see what kind of response you get.
Then check again as you get close enough to touch/talk to the person. Check around them for any danger you didn’t see – are you about to step on a wire? Kneel in glass? Do they have a weapon? And so on. At the same time you should be talking to them and checking their level or responsiveness. Consider checking ABCs if needed.
Call
Based on your assessment so far, you should now be able to decide what kind of ‘call for help’ is needed and when to do it. For example, if dangers prevent you getting near the person, call for appropriate help. If you are alone with an unconscious, non-breathing adult you should be calling for EMS/an ambulance, etc. Where possible, get someone else to do the call for you while you move on to the care step.
[Review how to call EMS]
Care
OK, now you can do the ‘treatment’ part – the ‘care’ step in the 3 Cs of First Aid. There’s no way we can outline every form of care in this post, so take a look around the site. There are hundreds of posts on the care of various injuries. Review the ABCs and be ready to do CPR if needed. Finally, of course, join a training class for all the latest approaches to care.
Recent Comments