Evaluating A Casualty

I. Introduction:

A: Attention getter: Going through the forest, something grabs your eye. Could it be? What is that? Oh! You must act quickly because you just realized you found an unconscious body of a middle aged adult lying face down in the dirt. You need to figure out what to do while being alone with no help for at least 3 miles.

B: Topic: There are 8 basic steps involved in evaluating a casualty. Properly following these steps could mean the difference between saving someone's life and watching someone die right in front of you.

C: Justification: Everyone matters to someone. 30 percent of casualties in combat could be saved if proper basic life saving steps would have been used.

D: Preview: Of all the training you can receive, the most important is first aid and using it to save someone else's life. If you apply one of the steps and you find a problem, stop evaluation and treat the problem.

II. Body:

A: You must first find out if the casualty is conscious. Gently shaking them and using verbal gestures, wait for a response.

B: If there is none begin to listen for breathing by placing your ear next to the casualties' mouth.

1: look for the chest to rise and fall.

2: place either a hand or your own cheek next to the casualties'.

C: Check for bleeding.

1: look for spurts of blood or blood soaked clothes.

2: look for entry or exit wounds

D: You must continue to the next step, don't mix these up. Now check for shock

1: any combination of the following; cool clammy skin, confusion, restlessness, faster than normal heart rate and nausea or vomiting.

E: This is real important to take your time with. You could make the wound worse if you are not careful. Check for fractures.

1: unusual body or limb position.

a: open fractures Ð'- look for bleeding or bone sticking through skin.

b: closed fracture Ð'- look for swelling discoloration or deformity