Approach to the Victim

can’t get these diseases by doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or from exposure to their

saliva, sputum, nasal secretions, or vomit. To be safe, though, you should cover any cuts or

sores you have that could result in an exchange of blood through the break in your skin. This is

good practice, even if you aren’t rendering first aid.

If you have significant contact with the bodily secretions or blood of another person, especially

if it is someone you do not know, change your clothing and take a shower to clean your body.

While you can’t really get HIV disease or hepatitis B if there is no contact with your blood, there

is still contact with possibly infected fluids causing other diseases. The best way to avoid a

hepatitis B infection is to get immunized if it didn’t happen when you were little.

APPROACH TO THE VICTIM

There is a saying that the first thing you should do when approaching a person who is

unconscious and not breathing is to take your own pulse. This means you first need to collect

yourself and calm down or you won’t be of help to anyone. This is especially the case when the

victim is one of your family members or when the person is seriously sick or injured. This

doesn’t mean you need to act slowly; you just need to think about what you’re doing and try

not to be emotionally overcome—at least not until the emergency is over.

Once you have calmed down, your initial approach to a victim is to get an overall impression of

what’s going on. Do they look sick? Are they talking and do they make sense? Is their skin a

normal pink or skin-color or do they look blue in the extremities or around their mouth? Are

they struggling to catch their breath? The person who is talking and not struggling to breathe

probably doesn’t need overzealous treatment. On the other hand, the individual who can’t

complete a sentence because they are short of breath or who isn’t making sense needs urgent

treatment.

If the victim is a child, the fact that they are crying is usually a good sign. Crying children have

the respiratory (lung) reserves to allow them to cry. The child who cannot cry because they are

too busy breathing is probably sicker than the crying child. Listening for abnormal breathing

sounds is the first thing you should assess. People with pneumonia, heart failure, asthma,

croup, or a foreign body in the airway will have unusual breath sounds you can hear when they

breathe. This is a quick way of checking the person’s airway patency and breathing ability.

Next, determine if they have an increased “work of breathing”. Are they sitting up and

drooling? Are they breathing shallow and fast? Is their chest heaving when they breathe?

These are signs that the person is using extra energy to breathe and might tire out and stop

breathing. You should call for an ambulance when you perceive the work of breathing is

increased.

Third, what is their circulation like? Do they have cool hands and feet or do they have a bluish

discoloration around their mouth? These are signs that the individual might not have the blood

pressure to support their body’s needs. It could be for several different reasons, including

blood loss or severe infection, but suffice it to say, it is a sign that an ambulance needs to be

called.

If you know how to check a pulse, this can be very helpful in determining if the person is in

distress. The pulse or “heart rate” can be detected by placing two fingers over the inside of the

wrist on the “thumb side” of the wrist. The “heart beat” can be felt beneath the skin. Tilt the

wrist back to feel it better. A normal pulse is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Measure

the number of beats you feel in 30 seconds and multiply what you’ve felt times two. A fast

pulse might mean anxiety, but it could mean the person is going into shock or struggling to

breath. Figure 1 in your guide shows how to check a radial pulse.