Included this week are some tips on ringing for help and some emergency numbers that you MUST have on hand somewhere like the fridge, and definitely programmed into your phone.
Some tips about calling 000 or 112:
- Ask for the appropriate emergency service eg. fire, ambulance, police
- Give the location, street name and number, nearest main rd etc
- Pass on a brief summary of what has happened, number of injured, type of injures etc
- Talk slowly and clearly, stay calm and listen to what they are asking or telling you
- Never hang up until the operator does!
For those of us in Victoria here is a great list of numbers to have on your fridge. Very handy!
If you are the only first aider at an incident then briefly assess the situation and then send a bystander to call. Make sure this person reports back to you with any feedback or information from the emergency services. This ensures they have definitely made the call and gives the bystander a feeling of importance and responsibility. If you are by yourself then it is important to know where the speaker button is on your phone. You can be talking to emergency personnel and using both hands to help the injured.
Never heard of 112? That's ok, 112 is a great one to remember as it can be used with your mobile phone from anywhere in the world with GSM coverage, and is automatically translated to that countries emergency number. In Australia, ideally ring 000 first, and if this doesn't work then try 112. Often if your service provider is not available then 112 will take you through to one that is. Saying that, 000 is the best to ring as then the emergency personnel are more likely to be able to identify you and where you are.
Another good thing to know is about the ICE programme. This stands for 'In Case of Emergency'. It means that emergency personnel at the site of an incident can look in your phone and find next of kin or an emergency contact person. They can then contact these people and obtain important medical information and/or pass on information. All you need to do is enter the acronym ICE into your address book in your phone and list the name and number of your emergency contact person.
We have listed above the 'Nurse-On-Call' number. I have to say that we have used this number numerous times and they have been absolutely fabulous! So calm and informative. They provide 24 hour a day, 7 days a week health and medical advice from a registered nurse. They had all our calls and incidents on record so knew our history, which is great as the last thing you want to do is to spend valuable time giving background info. How fantastic are our nurses!!
Thanks for reading and hope you're having a great week everyone!
~V~
No comments:
Post a Comment