Lecture 1.

Being knowledgeable and skilled in providing first aid can help you to make your workplace, home and community a safer place to be. When a person is injured or becomes suddenly ill, your quick action can prevent the injury or illness from worsening, and it may even save the person's life. Although every emergency situation is unique, understanding basic principles of giving first aid care will always serve you well.

By definition, emergencies are unexpected situations that require immediate action. But by expecting the unexpected and taking general steps to prepare, you can increase the likelihood of a positive outcome should an emergency situation arise.
By lerning this course, you take an important first step in preparing for emergencies. You will learn the concepts and skills you need to recognize emergency situations and respond appropriately until advanced medical personnel arrive and take over. Once you have learned these concepts and skills, review and practice them regularly so that if you ever have to use them, you will be well prepared and have the confidence to respond.

Danger (threat, damaging factor) - phenomena, actions or substances that are the direct cause of a deteriorating of human health, damage and destruction of property and the environment.

The first class of dangers is associated with the presence of stored energy, which, when released, is the cause of harm. Energy can be represented in various forms: chemical, mechanical, thermal, radioactive, electrical, etc.

The second class of hazards is associated not with the energy, but with the presence of a dangerous situation: the restriction of free space, an atmosphere with a lack of oxygen, an unstable position, uniform repetitive movements, low-lying or protruding objects, etc.

Realized hazards that cause harmful effects on human health, damage, destruction of material resources, the environment are called damaging factors.

Types of damaging factors:

• physical (dynamic, thermal, electrical, acoustic, etc.) - gunshot and mine-explosive wounds, fall from a height, crushing by destroyed structures and collapses, impacts by protruding elements, burns and overheating, frostbite and hypothermia, exposure to electromagnetic radiation;
• chemical - exposure to accidentally chemically hazardous and chemical warfare agents;
• radiation - exposure to high-energy elementary particles and radiation resulting from intranuclear decay or synthesis;
• biological - diseases of people, animals, plants, teratogenic effects and mutations;
• psychological - stress, shock, stupor.

Safe conditions for medical activity are achieved by compliance with the rules of fire, electrical, explosion safety and other labor protection rules.

But the greatest hazard for healthcare workers is the possibility of infection by infectious disease pathogens when providing medical care and being in healthcare organizations. In this regard, the most important element in the preparation of a doctor is the development of professional competencies for infectious safety when working with patients (victims) both in healthcare organizations and outside them. Compliance with the rules of infectious safety will prevent or minimize the possibility of the spread of an infectious disease as a result of the professional activities of a doctor, including in the provision of first aid and medical care.