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Fire & Emergency

First Aid — The First Five Minutes

7 minutesCrew talk · print & deliver

Professional help is minutes to hours away; the person next to the casualty is the real first responder. You don't need a certificate to keep someone alive — you need a handful of actions done fast and in order.

First moves

  • Make the scene safe FIRST — isolate the machine, kill the power; a second casualty doubles the disaster.
  • Shout for the first aider and send a named person to call it in: location, what happened, how many injured.
  • Severe bleeding: direct pressure with anything clean, keep pressing, elevate.
  • Burns: cool with running water for 20 minutes; no ice, no ointments; burnshield if in the kit.

What NOT to do

  • Do not move a fall or crush casualty unless danger forces it — spines are unforgiving.
  • Nothing to eat or drink for a serious casualty.
  • Chemical splashes: eyewash/shower for 15+ minutes — bring the SDS to the medics.

Discussion — ask the crew

  1. Who are the first aiders on THIS shift and where is the kit?
  2. What exactly do you say when you call the emergency number — practise it.
  3. Is our eyewash station charged and in date?
Equip this talk

Requisition the first aid kit and related equipment from the Supply Register.

Open Supply Register