Ready Hands

What first aid courses teach, step by step in plain words, for the people who are often first on the scene.

A man in his eighties grows confused on a hot afternoon. A woman chokes on her lunch. A car stops suddenly on the road ahead while you are walking a person home. Care workers are often the first people on the scene, at work and on the way between homes, and what they do in the first minutes matters.

This book explains, step by step and in plain words, what first aid courses teach today: making the call to the emergency number and describing where you are, checking a person who has collapsed, the recovery position, CPR and the defibrillator, choking, bleeding and shock, falls and broken bones, burns, chest pain, stroke, seizures and other sudden illness.

Heat runs through the book: how heat affects older people, how to tell heat exhaustion from heatstroke, how to cool a person fast while help is on the way and how to plan safe outings on hot days. So does the road: making an accident scene safe, hot pavements and parked cars, cold and rain. Every chapter begins with a moment from a care worker's day and ends with things to check.

After reading this book, you will be able to…

• Make the emergency call clearly, including from the roadside, and follow the operator's instructions
• Check a person who has collapsed, place them in the recovery position and start CPR with a defibrillator when needed
• Recognise heat exhaustion and heatstroke and cool a person quickly and safely
• Make a road accident scene safer for yourself, the person you support and others
• Give first aid for choking, bleeding, falls, burns and sudden illness, and hand over well to the paramedics