Rules for the first aid in cases of craniocerebral trauma

1 What if I suspect a head injury?

Before providing first aid to a person, it is necessary to assess his condition and to understand if he really has a trauma that requires urgent medical attention. For this it is sufficient to answer the following questions:

• Is the victim in consciousness? If he does not respond to the voice and loud noises, it is necessary to check how he will behave when touched and painful stimulation( it is enough to pinch or lightly tap a person on the outwardly healthy part of the body - in no case should it be stimulated on open wounds or obvious injuries).
• What type of injury? Open or closed, how much blood goes, if any, is there an additional trauma to the spine with leakage of cerebrospinal fluid?
• How can I characterize breathing and heartbeat? Is the pulse felt on the central and peripheral arteries, how often and strongly does the heart beat, are there interruptions, if yes - how often are they observed?

First aid for head injury is not too complicated, and it will not harm a healthy person, but in some situations, losing time to a healthy person can cost other people's health.

2 How to identify TBI?

Only traumas that can seriously affect the health of a person and the quality of his later life will be considered below. With TBI of this degree, the following symptoms are typical for the patient:

• drowsiness;
• weakness;
• nausea, sometimes vomiting;
• amnesia( often local: the patient does not remember the events that led directly to the trauma, less often a few days before);
• loss of consciousness( especially if improvised means to bring the victim to the senses does not work).

In addition to the above symptoms, craniocerebral trauma can be distinguished by the characteristic external symptoms:

• scalp damage;
• blood from the nose;
• visible fractures in the head region;
• any damage to the skin;
• is too tense neck, which the victim himself can not relax;
• "wandering gaze", the inability to concentrate on one subject or action.

Most often, head trauma is obtained when getting into a traffic accident, falling from a height or in a fight. Less often from this suffer athletes( not necessarily professional, often patients become ordinary people who decided to engage in traumatic sports).

3 First aid

The following sequence of actions is the most optimal if there are no other visible damages and after a call to the ambulance it is not clear when the brigade will arrive. First aid for craniocerebral trauma:

• Airways are checked for foreign objects and liquids that do not give the victim a chance to breathe normally, this is the first thing to do.
• If the victim is conscious, he is placed on his back and continues to monitor the general condition. If possible, it is better to monitor breathing and pulse to be able to report these data to approaching doctors. If the patient has lost breath and pulse, it is necessary to begin an indirect cardiac massage according to the standard scheme.
• If the victim has lost consciousness, he is laid on one side so that when vomiting occurs he does not suffocate. All the time, while the ambulance rides, it must be checked for a slack in the tongue or vomiting in the respiratory tract.
• If the wound bleeds, the skin around it is gently wiped with a clean cloth, and a bandage is applied to the wound itself. If the wound is open, in addition to bandaging the edges are covered with bandages before closing the damage itself.
• After this, the patient should be left alone and waiting for the call of the doctors. If possible, no medication is given, in the most extreme case - it is necessary to remember what was given to the victim so that the doctors could adjust the set of medications that can be given to him. If available, you can gently apply cold to the bruises.
• In cases when the ambulance has to wait a long time or doctors can not quickly reach the scene, it is necessary to start transportation to the nearest hospital( ideally, local doctors should be warned in advance that they have time to prepare everything to provide the patient with qualified care).The patient is transported exclusively in the supine position, pulse and respiration is measured every ten minutes.

4 Symptoms that can not be ignored

If the patient has the following symptoms, postpone the ambulance call and try to deliver it to the trauma on his own, you should not:

• bleeding from the nose, ears, eyes, mouth or open wound on the head;
• severe headache, not giving thought;
• asphyxiation;
• speech imprecision;
• nausea and multiple vomiting;
• incessant seizures;
• confusion, the inability to determine things around;
• violations in balance, inability to keep straight and perform simple tasks for coordination of movements;
• weakness and numbness of the limbs;
• open craniocerebral trauma.

5 What can not I do?

First aid for craniocerebral trauma should in no case include the following actions( even if the person is not sure that it is CCT, it's better to be safe):

• sitting the victim, trying to pick him up and getting him to walk to make sure,that with him everything is in order;
• leaving the victim unattended( there were cases when the patient did not have time to save, because he was left only for a couple of minutes - to open the door of the ambulance arrived);
• attempts to get pieces of bone or foreign objects from the wound - amateur performance can lead to serious bleeding and sudden death;
• refusal of medical care( implies not only the refusal to call an ambulance, but also the unwillingness to further spend time visiting a specialist).

Also, as already mentioned, it is undesirable to give the patient food or medicine. If there is a need in the latter, it is better to call an ambulance again and ask how long the brigade will go, and whether it is possible to give an anesthetic when waiting.

6 Conclusion

Emergency care for a traumatic brain injury is very important. If everything is done correctly, the victim has all chances to get out of the situation with a minimum loss of efficiency. It depends on the surrounding people how the fate of the person to whom they render first aid will develop in the future, so it is necessary to approach the aforementioned set of measures with all responsibility. The best option would be learning a sequence of actions so that in a stressful situation a person could do everything on the machine and not harm the victim.