The Importance of First Aid

As nice as it would be to have a doctor available in every situation you were to find yourself in so that should anything happen, you’d need not worry – an expert is one hand, unfortunately, again, life doesn’t always work like that. Sometimes it’s you who has to be the doctor. The first responder. The first one to deliver aid. This is why, should a serious health issue arise, understanding what to do in the situation could prove vital for someone’s survival. It’s strange that first aid isn’t more commonly taught given that by learning at least the basics of first aid, thousands of deaths could have been prevented. So, if you are to learn first aid, the first thing you’ll need to know are the three Ps of first aid.

The three Ps of first aid essentially summarise the exact point of first aid. The Ps stand for:

– PRESERVE
– PREVENT
– PROMOTE

The first P, Preserve, is all about preserving the life of someone. Just like if you saw someone fall over, you’d want to preserve their safety. You’d want to make sure that before you did anything else, you made sure they were in as safe a position as possible to receive the practical first aid procedures they need to stay alive before professional and equipped help arrived. 

After you’ve preserved their life as best you can in the circumstances , of course the last thing you’d want is for the situation to get even worse. This is why the second P is all about that – prevention – so ensuring the environment around the patient is safe, so as not to make the situation even more complicated and dangerous.  Depending on the medical issue, getting past the first P (preserve)  can be difficult enough, physically, mentally and emotionally. If you’re able to do this successfully, keep the patient safe until help arrives, then you can move on to the final P.

The final P in the three Ps, aims to promote recovery. The final thing, and the most urgent thing that anyone wants when a medical emergency has occurred is to get back to full health as soon as possible. Of course, with medical emergencies, this recovery can take days, weeks, even months. However, as soon as they are able to recover, even in the moment, you should try your best to help this process along.