First Aid Archives - Mountain Medic

Control the Bleed

August 4, 2023 Holly at Mountain Medic

A catastrophic bleed is a bleed that will rapidly become life threatening to the casualty and must be aggressively addressed. A massive external haemorrhage should be the responder’s initial focus when arriving at a casualty; your priority is to stop the bleeding. This is due to the fact that once a large amount of blood is lost (approximately three litres) it can be too late to address the issue and measures such as intravenous fluids or a blood transfusion may be ineffective.

Safe Approach: Primary Survey

August 1, 2023 Holly at Mountain Medic

Which every approach to the Primary Survey you prefer, such as DRABC or MARCH, the first step is to ensure that you make a safe approach when responding to a casualty, so as to not exacerbate the situation and to not become a casualty yourself. The approach needs to include a proper assessment of the potential risks and should not be just a “quick check” due to the potential for subtle but serious risks, such as electrocution and falling items.

Primary Survey: MARCH

July 28, 2023 Holly at Mountain Medic

The MARCH “Algorithm”, as it is often called, is an approach for performing a Primary Survey when dealing with a casualty. In a previous post we discussed a more advanced version of the Primary survey which build on the basic “DRABC” approach to give a advanced “DRCAcBCD“, where we add in additional aspects, predominately a concern for catastrophic bleeding. Whilst this new acronym is perfectly serviceable, some people may dislike it – one common complaint is “too many Cs” with Catastrophic Bleeding, C-Spine injuries, and Circulation all featured. Whilst this is unlikely to be a major concern for a trained responder, it might be frustrating during their initial training – since there’s so many acronyms to keep track of when you first get started with your learning.

This is one of the reasons that some people prefer the mnemonic “MARCH” as an alternative to “DRCAcBCDE”, in short there is little difference between the two in terms of what they cover and the order. Others may prefer it simply because it’s the one they were taught first!

ATMIST: Handover

July 24, 2023 Holly at Mountain Medic

As a Responder, if a life threatening injury or condition was identified during the Primary Survey, it is very likely that a handover to paramedics or other medical staff will be required. Ensuring that the handover is both efficient and complete is critical to a good handover. If unsure, you could simply follow through the ABCDE of the Primary Survey and state what was found and what was done at each stage, however an “ATMIST” report is a very common method of handover. The ATMIST acronym runs through the key details and ensures nothing is missed.

Additionally, by standardising the handover, the aim is to ensure that it can be completed quickly, so that the casualty can get on their way to further support.

Primary Survey: Advanced First Aid – DRCABCDE

July 23, 2023 Holly at Mountain Medic

The Primary Survey is a rapid assessment of a casualty to determine if there are life threatening injuries or a condition that needs addressing immediately. In this article we’ll run through the more advanced version of the Primary Survey covered by DRCABCDE. This version is not appropriate for those with only basic first aid knowledge and is instead designed for those with advanced training and equipment.

Primary Survey: Basic First Aid – DRABC

July 23, 2023 Holly at Mountain Medic

The Primary Survey is a rapid assessment of a casualty to determine if there are life threatening injuries or a condition that needs addressing immediately. There are several mnemonics to assist with delivering an effective Primary Survey, but as with any aspect of first aid there is always a desire to cram as much detail as possible. Leading to several variations of the the initialism (for example, DRABC, DRSCABC, and DRCABCDE). In this article we’ll run through the basics of a primary survey only and we will use the basic mnemonic “DRABC”.

Whats goes in an IFAK?

July 20, 2023 Holly at Mountain Medic

What you carry in your Individual First Aid Kit should be just that: individual. Both in terms of how much you carry, the aim of an IFAK is to cover your individual requirements and carrying too much just means that it’s less likely that you’ll carry it (One exception to this rule is for parents and pet owners, you might want to carry a little extra for your dependents).

Plus it should be tailored to your individual requirements – if you work in an office in a city, you probably don’t need much, but if you work in the country away from your vehicle then you’ll likely require more. I’ll cover what I carry day-to-day in this post, but I should note that I carry a little more when I’m out on the hills. I also carry a different kit in my vehicle.

What is an IFAK?

July 20, 2023 Holly at Mountain Medic

An IFAK is an “Individual First Aid Kit”, occasionally you’ll hear people call these “Infantry First Aid Kits” but during my time in the Military it was always “Individual”, so I’ll stick with that. These are First Aid Kits carried by individuals to address any immediate aid requirements they might have. For the military that meant temporarily addressing traumatic injuries sustained on the battlefield until your battle buddies could get you a medical evacuation.

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