To know if a sick or injured person is conscious must ask a simple questions like what happens?, do you hear?,can I help?, or touch on the shoulder to see if it responds.
If the person says is that it maintains the level of consciousness logically correct and vital signs. If no response, despite several stimuli such as pinching to observe their reactions, you are unconscious. We must immediately notify an ambulance, if you have not already done so, and examine the breathing and pulse.
To check if a person breathes, the person providing first aid must use the view (see if the chest rises and falls) , hearing (put near the mouth to hear breathing) and touch (bring her cheek to her mouth and nose of the patient to feel the warmth of the exhaled air).
If the patient is breathing, you will not need to further explore the vital signs . If not breathing, begin resuscitation immediately lungs.
When a person stops breathing, the only effective maneuver is currently trying to introduce air into your lungs. To achieve this we must perform a series of maneuvers:
- Lay the person flat on the floor face up.
- Examine the mouth to remove any foreign bodies (dentures, gum or other objects that may impede the passage of air).
- Open the airway. This call is made head tilt-chin: you place your index and middle fingers of one hand under his chin and pressed with the thumb on the chin, pushing it up, while the other hand is placed on the forehead pushing it down. This move will get the base of the tongue so as not to obstruct the passage of air through the hyperextension of the neck. It should be noted that if very strong suspicion that there may be an injury to the cervical spine should not then move the head, and is forced to try to do artificial respiration absolutely still trying to keep the neck of the victim.
- It is important to remember that in the case of an injured motorist owes never try to remove the helmet, as if he had a neck injury unfortunately, relatively common, only make things worse.
- Word of mouth: the most common.
- Mouth to nose: if there is a serious wound in the mouth or poisoning.
- Word of mouth-nose-in newborns and infants.