The road to Eagle: merit badges. (part two)

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Aug 22, 2001

Hey everyone. Today we'll be working on First aid. The first aid badge is required, and needed before you can get badges such as emergency preparedness, or lifesaving. I'm going to do all I can to help you, so pay attention.

We're going to skip number one and go to number two a. It says: Explain how you would obtain emergency medical assistance from your home, on a wilderness camping trip, and during an activity on open water. This is easy. At home, dial 911, run out of your house to a neighbor for them to call, or if you have a security system for different emergencies, press the button for an ambulance. On a campout, use a cell phone, or if there's a hospital nearby run or have your leader drive to it, send up a signal flare, or flag down passing cars to see if they have cell phones. On water, use a cell phone, if you have a CB radio, use it, or send up a signal flare.

Let's move on to the next one I can help with. Explain what action you should take for someone who shows signs of a heart attack. If they can talk, ask them if they think they're having one, and ask if they want you to get them some aspirin. If they can't talk, it's probably bad, so call an ambulance. If they go into cardiac arrest, see if there's someone nearby that is certified, otherwise perform CPR yourself. The way I was taught to administer CPR might be outdated now, so I suggest you check with your scout leader for the current methods.

The next requirement I can help with says: Show the steps that need to be taken for someone suffering from a severe laceration on the leg and on the wrist. Tell the dangers in the use of a tourniquet and the conditions under which its use is justified. On the leg, you need to stop the bleeding. Raise the leg higher then the chest to make it harder for the heart to pump blood into it. Also, apply a thick bandage over it, or even hold a cloth over the wound to slow the bleeding down. For the wrist, do the same thing. Also, call an ambulance right away. The tourniquet method is I believe when you tie a piece of cloth or a rope above the wound to stop the flow of blood. The danger is that without blood something serious could happen to the affected area. It's usually justified when it's an arm or a leg and it's bleeding so heavily that the victim would die

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