13: DR ABC
suggested answers
1)
| Check for dangers | 1 |
| Check & clear airways | 3 |
| Check for response | 2 |
| Check circulation | 5 |
| Check breathing | 4 |
2a) Examples of dangers that you can see but may not be able to easily hear might include distant lightning, rising tide, spiders, scorpions, marine stingers, sharks, etc. (Note that the color red is often a sign of danger in nature.)
2b) Examples of dangers that you can hear but may not be able to easily see might include a hissing snake, a groaning branch, a vehicle coming around a corner, a wave (when you are facing the shore) or a thunderous waterfall.
2c) Examples of dangers that you can smell but may not be able to easily see or hear might include leaking gas, fumes, burning, smoke from a distant fire. Note that lethal gases like carbon monoxide that are invisible & odourless (& of course usually noiseless) are particularly dangerous. (An example is the 4 snowboarders who died from carbon monoxide poisoning while using a Shellite stove inside their tents at Mt Kosciusko in 1999.)
3) Speaking & squeezing are less likely to cause alarm, an aggressive response or sudden movement when the injured person may need to lie very still.
4)
| person answers all questions clearly | 1 |
| person only stirs when ear is pinched | 3 |
| person remembers name but nothing else | 2 |
| person doesn’t stir at all | 4 |
5) Proper head tilt opens the airways, better allowing breathing to continue or even spontaneously resume. This simple act can readily save lives.
6) 1. LOOK 2. LISTEN 3. FEEL
7) 1. radial pulse (on wrist); 2. carotid pulse (on neck)
8a) The first aider looks to see the chest rising & falling.
8b) The first aider listens for “breathy” noises (e.g. rasping or laboured breathing).
8c) The first aider feels the chest rising & falling with their hand; & feels puffs of breath on their cheek.
9) An unconscious breathing person should be placed on their side in a stable position with proper head tilt maintained & face protected. As well, they should be protected from the elements & other dangers.
10) Organisations that run 1st aid courses include volunteer bodies like Red
Cross, St Johns Ambulance, Royal Life & Surf Life, & private companies
like Wilderness Medicine Institute.
teacher’s notes
This & other 1st aid worksheets in this workbook are no substitute for accredited 1st aid training – for teachers &/or students. We attempt to present information that is based on our level of training by recognised providers & that is considered conventional wisdom. We do not discuss CPR in any detail.
additional activities
1) Using various props like rubber snakes & spiders, empty plastic bottles labelled with a poison symbol, empty bottles or cans of alcohol, it is easy to set up scenarios where one student leaves the room & returns to check dangers & work their way through the DR ABC protocol.
2) Teach students to check their own & others’ radial & carotid pulses.
3) Demonstrate & practise head tilt, rolls, checking breathing, etc.
4) Ask students to list 5 different sorts of breathing & the conditions that they indicate (e.g. deep, quick breathing might indicate that someone has just engaged in very strenuous activity).
5) Preview the video Your move to see if any of it is worth showing your students.
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