Know How To Perform Basic First Aid

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Here are some key points.

• Knowing basic first aid can help save an injured co-worker’s life.
• Don’t move an injured person unless he is in immediate additional danger.
• Know where our first aid kits are kept and what is in them.

Act quickly but calmly

• Working on a farm or in an orchard, nursery or greenhouse exposes us to many dangers.
• These range from being caught in moving machinery to being cut by sharp pruning shears.
• That’s why it’s important to know basic first aid. Here are some basics:

1. Act quickly when a person has been injured.
2. Call the emergency medical services for help if the situation appears serious.
   Note to trainer: Tell trainees how to contact the emergency medical services in your area. Also tell trainees who in your operation has been trained in advanced first aid so they can also notify that person.
3. Stay calm. Panicking will only make the situation worse.
4. Don’t move an injured person unless he is in immediate additional danger.
5. Know where our emergency first aid kits are kept.
   Note to trainer: Go through the contents of a first aid kit with trainees. Tell them where the kits are kept.

Protect yourself from disease

• Avoid direct contact with an injured person’s blood or other body fluids.
• Wear clean, disposable gloves such as latex gloves or place a barrier such as a clean cloth, towel or shirt between yourself and the injured person’s blood.
• Wash your hands with soap and water before administering first aid and when you are done.
• Cover any scrapes or cuts on your hands with bandages or gloves.
• Notify your supervisor and get a doctor’s advice if you are exposed to another person’s blood.

When a co-worker is bleeding

• If the person is cut and the bleeding is minor, clean the wound with soap and water. Use gauze – not cotton – for cleaning. Then bandage the cut with a bandage or gauze and tape.
• For severe bleeding, follow these steps:

1. Call for professional medical help as soon as possible.
2. Cover the wound with a clean gauze pad and press down firmly.
3. Unless you suspect broken bones, elevate the injured area above the level of the person’s heart while you are applying pressure.
4. If the bleeding doesn’t stop, apply pressure to a nearby artery. In the arm, this is located inside the upper arm between the shoulder and elbow. In the leg, it’s on the crease at the front of the hip in the groin area.

Fractures and broken bones

• Don’t move the person unless he is in immediate additional danger.
• Call the emergency medical services as soon as possible.
• Keep the injured limb immobilized. One way to do this is to place a small pillow or folded blanket between the injured limb and the ground.

Warning: Immediately call the emergency medical services for injuries to the head, neck or back. Do not move a person with these types of injuries unless he is in immediate additional danger.

Severed limbs

• Serious accidents such as becoming entangled in a tractor PTO may result in the loss of an arm, leg or other body part.
• Follow these steps in such situations:

1. Turn off the power if you can do so safely.
2. Call the emergency medical services for help and administer CPR if the person isn’t breathing and you know how to perform CPR.
3. Take steps to stop any external bleeding.
4. Wrap the severed body part in sterile gauze or a clean cloth. Then place it in a plastic bag. Put the plastic bag inside a bag of ice and take it to the hospital with the victim.

Basic First Aid Do’s and Don’ts

Do

• Know who to call for immediate emergency medical assistance.
• Stay calm when administering first aid.
• Know what is in our first aid kits.

• Touch objects that may be soiled with an injured person’s blood.
• Eat, drink or touch your nose, mouth or eyes when giving first aid.

When you’re ready to work safely, you’re ready to work. See our full line of safety supplies, including respirators, eye and ear protection, coveralls, first aid and more.

Download a printable PDF version of these training tips for use in employee training.
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