Why first aid is important #2
So, this week is going to be about first aid again. Even though it’s already a few days gone, there has been a quite special date this week: European 112 day was held this Thursday, on february 11th. Plus 112 has its 30th anniversary this year :)
112 is the common emergency telephone number of the member states of the Europan Union (as well as some others). It is supposed to be dailed free of charge from all mobile and fixed telephones whithin these countries in order to reach emergency services such as ambulance, fire rescue and police. The emergency number is part of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard. Even in countries far away from Europe (like the USA or Australia, Great-Britain etc.) you can be helped by dialling 112, you will be directly forwarded to local emergency number by the GSM. Due to this standard, 112 can even be dailed in a locked phone with no SIM-card in it.
In 1991 (30years ago) the Europen Union decided to create a unitary emergency number for all its member-states in order to grant better access to help in case of emergencies, especially for travellers. Previously, every country used to have their own number, in some they still do coexist alongside with the 112. Since 2003 mobile companies are furthermore allowed to transmit the caller’s location data to the rescue control centers, so that they may send help directly to them in less time.
The european 112 day is held annually since 2009 with the purpose to raise awareness for the common emergency number and to promote its advantages. Actually, in 2008 the surprisingly low figure of barely more than 20 percent knew about the existence of the common emergency number. Five years later, statistics show, that this figure has already increased up to nearly 30 percent and grew further ever since. Today 112 has become some kind of symbol for help and support.
OK now, once again, why is an emergency number, and therefore an emergency call so important?
As I already wrote a few weeks ago (in „Why frist aid is important Pt.1): In case of an emergency (be it a medical emergency, a fire, an accident or whatsoever), setting an emergency call is your quickest and most important acces to further, professional help. All you need is a phone and you are possibly going to save lives.
There is barely anything you can do wrong, but ideally, you should provide the necessary information effectively, in a quick but precice way. The most important information the rescue control center needs to know from you are those about the location and the scenario of the emergency.
As a small aide-memoire, try to remember these „4 Ws“ while setting an emergency call. These will help you to provide all the crucial information:
Where did the incident happen?
What happened? (Describe the Situation as exactly as possible. It is also very helpfull if you can say how many people are affected!)
Wait for further questions!
Having remebered these, you already did a great job. If you already know or found out some information about the patient(s) like name, sex, age, the exact problem or what happened in detail, you can pass these information on as well, that too, helps a lot! To give the rescue workers a better idea what exactly the patient is dealing with, try to describe their condition as good as you can. Terms like these might help you here: Injury, breathing difficulty, bleeding, unconciousness, road accident, chest pain, fitting, drowning, pregnancy/in labour, burns or allergy. This way you can give an even better idea, what kind of help is exactly required.
Alright, so in conclusion: Setting an emergency call can save lives and there is barely anything that should prevent you from doing so. Dialing 112 (or 911, 000, etc.) is the most basic and a very fundamental part of first aid! It’s not even hard, and even easier when you make sure to remember your „4 Ws“!
I think that’s it for this week.
Here in Germany we had al lot of snow and pretty low temperatures, last week, which I certainly enjoyed :)
But unfortunately that also comes along with an increasing number of traffic accidents and other snow and ice related injuries…
So let me remind you to stay careful and safe!
Until next time!
