Seven Common First-Aid Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Alarm bells are blaring across America. 35 million Americans visited the emergency room due to an injury in 2018. 16.2 million people were admitted into the hospital, with 2.3 million people being rushed to the critical care unit.

One reason why so many people need critical care is that first-aid mistakes are common. Someone tries to help an injured person, but they just make the situation worse. Thankfully, you can spot these mistakes and prevent them from occurring.

What should you do as you start to respond to an injured person? How can you keep an injury from getting worse? What tools should you use to stop bleeding or keep someone warm?

Answer these questions and you can save someone’s life. Here are seven first-aid mistakes you can avoid.

1. Forgetting About Yourself

Your safety is as important as anyone else’s. If you get injured while trying to help someone else, you will make the situation worse. Someone else has to come along and help two people instead of one.

Before you respond to someone’s injuries, you need to assess the situation. If someone with a gun is in the area, you need to evacuate the scene. Tell other people to run away and leave as soon as you can.

If a fire is raging, you need to put the fire out. Trying to help someone near flames can cause smoke inhalation, which can kill you. Once the scene is safe, you can start applying first aid.

2. Not Calling 911

The steps of first aid begin with calling 911. There is only so much you can do on your own. EMTs can arrive on the scene and transport the victim to the hospital, where they can receive the services they need.

You can call 911 and use your speakerphone to talk to the responder. This lets you talk and help the victim at the same time. Make sure you tell the responder where you are and what injuries the person is experiencing.

You can also ask someone else to call 911 for you. Point at another person and instruct them to call for an ambulance. If you aren’t clear with your instructions, people may assume that someone has already called for help.

3. Letting the Person Bleed

You must take immediate steps to control a victim’s bleeding. If you have different first-aid kit options, you should select Stop the Bleed kits. These kits contain tourniquets, gauze, and other first-aid supplies that help stop bleeding.

The key to stopping bleeding is to reduce the blood flow near an injury. You can make a tourniquet by tying a cord or wrapping a belt over an injured limb. You should not use a tourniquet for a chest or joint injury, as you may not be able to apply enough pressure to stop the blood flow.

When in doubt, you can apply pressure directly on the injury. This is a strategy that works for all types of injuries, including gunshot wounds. You can use a heavy object like a book or your knee, but don’t apply too much force that you break the victim’s bones.

4. Moving the Injured Person

You may feel the instinct to pull an injured person away from the scene of an accident or fire. In reality, this can make the injury worse. The victim may have spinal cord damage, and moving their body can break their spinal cord in two.

You should only move someone away if there is an imminent threat to their life. An explosive object may be on fire near them, or a nearby building may fall down.

When you move someone away, try to keep their neck and head steady. You can place your arm under their head and neck, or you can make a neck brace with a belt.

5. Keeping Wounds Dirty

Before you put a bandage over someone, you should take some steps to clean their wounds. You can use rubbing alcohol to kill the bacteria around their injury. If a piece of dirt or debris has gotten into the wound, you can use water or a pair of tweezers to pull it out.

You should also kill the bacteria on your hands. Rub rubbing alcohol on your palms, wrists, and fingers. Wear a pair of gloves as you respond to the victim, and wash your hands after you are done.

6. Using Heat at the Wrong Time

Putting a heat pack on someone’s skin can soothe their pain. Yet it can increase swelling, as heat causes blood vessels to open up and fill the skin. If someone has a broken arm or a severe muscle sprain, you should not put a hot pack over their skin.

Someone who is suffering from hypothermia should move into a hot area. But if you pour boiling water on them, you risk burning them. You should warm their skin slowly using warm water in a bathtub.

7. Using the Wrong First-Aid Supplies

A tourniquet is a good tool to use for nearly any hand and leg injury. But it is never appropriate for a snakebite. You will trap the poison in the injured area, causing it to seep into the tissues.

Placing rubbing alcohol on someone’s skin can help them feel colder for a moment. But the alcohol can soak through the skin and provide only temporary relief. Someone who has a fever should receive a medicine like ibuprofen to cut their fever down.

Avoiding First-Aid Mistakes

You must be conscious of first-aid mistakes. Make sure you can respond to someone’s injuries without endangering yourself. Call 911 while you help the victim.

Your first priority should be to stop their bleeding. You can do this by applying pressure, but do not move the victim away from the scene.

Clean their wounds using antibacterial substances like rubbing alcohol. Don’t use very hot substances like boiling water to treat injuries, and only use first-aid tools for their intended purposes.

Your best first-aid tool is knowledge. Read more guides to first aid by following our coverage.